CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Sells 8,508 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co cut its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 170,870 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 8,508 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $31,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth $290,121,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 19,941.2% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 495,619 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $91,779,000 after acquiring an additional 493,146 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at about $87,148,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 64.1% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 989,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $183,273,000 after acquiring an additional 386,500 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM stock opened at $139.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.45, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $172.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.10.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. This trade represents a 32.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 120,720 shares of company stock valued at $21,828,609 over the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $178.93.

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.