Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Sold by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia cut its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 30.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,359 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,874 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. The trade was a 32.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 120,720 shares of company stock valued at $21,828,609. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush lowered their price objective 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” 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 target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

WSM opened at $145.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $177.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.75.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.46 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.44 earnings per share. 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 firm 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 $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

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.