Bank of Montreal Can Lowers Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Bank of Montreal Can reduced its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 62,525 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 240 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.05% of Williams-Sonoma worth $11,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after acquiring an additional 9,509 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $20,251,000 after purchasing an additional 5,337 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 527,740 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $97,875,000 after buying an additional 172,409 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position 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 during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 132.0% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,905 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 2,222 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE:WSM opened at $147.95 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $179.22 and a 200 day moving average of $173.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 29.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $1,212,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. This trade represents a 32.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 120,720 shares of company stock valued at $21,828,609. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Baird R W upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.