Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Sells 27,900 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt reduced its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 51.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 27,900 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $5,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 7.9% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 46,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,915,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 9.7% in the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 14,762 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 0.3% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,118 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $56,712,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1,415.9% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,092 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth about $292,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.1 %

Williams-Sonoma stock traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $282.23. The company had a trading volume of 702,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,039,165. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.44 and a 12-month high of $319.78. The company’s fifty day moving average is $265.33 and its 200-day moving average is $211.40. The company has a market capitalization of $18.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.70.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $263.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $248.06.

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.