Bank of Montreal Can Sells 23,594 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,765 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 23,594 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $9,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $326,931,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145,410 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $158,085,000 after acquiring an additional 467,407 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 659.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 531,304 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $82,309,000 after acquiring an additional 461,361 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 98.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 833,355 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $129,103,000 after acquiring an additional 413,226 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 536.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 383,700 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $108,345,000 after acquiring an additional 323,400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $154.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM traded up $5.80 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $177.82. 491,681 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,966,792. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $146.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $145.29. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.63 and a 1 year high of $181.42. The stock has a market cap of $21.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.81.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.97%.

Williams-Sonoma Profile

Williams-Sonoma, Inc operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand.