Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Has $23.34 Million Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lowered its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 25.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 126,051 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 43,360 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned 0.10% of Williams-Sonoma worth $23,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $3,026,000 after buying an additional 9,509 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,641,000 after purchasing an additional 12,061 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $20,251,000 after purchasing an additional 5,337 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 527,740 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $97,875,000 after purchasing an additional 172,409 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $58,616,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WSM. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $177.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total value of $4,973,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at $168,826,041.72. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total transaction of $6,020,166.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,690,666.52. This trade represents a 43.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE WSM traded down $1.18 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $157.80. The company had a trading volume of 835,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,979,133. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The firm's 50 day moving average is $193.93 and its 200-day moving average is $173.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. Williams-Sonoma's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.30%.

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.