Cadence Bank Sells 94 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Cadence Bank reduced its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. 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 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 23,950 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,435,000 after buying an additional 7,564 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $20,251,000 after purchasing an additional 5,337 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 527,740 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $97,875,000 after purchasing an additional 172,409 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $58,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 132.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,905 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $723,000 after buying an additional 2,222 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.0 %

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $139.04 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.10. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $1,212,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares in the company, valued at $2,501,002.65. This trade represents a 32.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % 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 three months. 1.50% of the stock is 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.