Cadence Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Cadence Bank lowered its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,646 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 94 shares during the period. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.0 %

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $139.04 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.10. The firm has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.45, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 29.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird raised Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $178.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $1,212,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,501,002.65. This represents a 32.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 120,720 shares of company stock worth $21,828,609. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.