Aviva PLC Decreases Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Aviva PLC lowered its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 27.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 217,289 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 84,288 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $40,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $825,588,000 after acquiring an additional 2,777,339 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $418,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,436 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth about $290,121,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in 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 worth $158,085,000 after purchasing an additional 467,407 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 622,279 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $96,403,000 after buying an additional 337,564 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $176.93.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM stock opened at $141.94 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $188.18 and its 200 day moving average is $174.12. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The company has a market cap of $17.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.44 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

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 value of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. This trade represents a 43.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 112,720 shares of company stock valued at $20,616,369 in the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.