Cibc World Markets Corp Has $1.06 Million Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Cibc World Markets Corp reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 23.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,717 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,778 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WSM. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,026,000 after acquiring an additional 9,509 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 38,512 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,966,000 after purchasing an additional 8,237 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 92.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 44,130 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,837,000 after purchasing an additional 21,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position 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 in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $163.27 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $197.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $172.03.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 26.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.93.

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.