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

Royal Bank of Canada lowered its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 32.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 254,714 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 125,139 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.21% of Williams-Sonoma worth $47,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at $290,121,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 19,941.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 495,619 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $91,779,000 after acquiring an additional 493,146 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at $87,148,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 64.1% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 989,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $183,273,000 after purchasing an additional 386,500 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,902,382 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $352,283,000 after purchasing an additional 249,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $167.91 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The firm has a market cap of $20.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.86, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $157.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.89.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during 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%. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current 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 $0.66 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird raised 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. UBS Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.81.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 915 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.69, for a total value of $129,646.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,572,715.72. The trade was a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total value of $4,973,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 80,635 shares of company stock valued at $13,236,175 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by 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.