BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $10.66 Million Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets trimmed its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,564 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 4,917 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $10,660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 15.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at $290,121,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 64.1% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 989,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $183,273,000 after buying an additional 386,500 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 563,058 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $104,267,000 after buying an additional 31,754 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 19,941.2% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 495,619 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $91,779,000 after buying an additional 493,146 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total transaction of $4,973,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. The trade was a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,014,116.16. This represents a 2.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 80,635 shares of company stock worth $13,236,175. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp raised Williams-Sonoma from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $181.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wedbush lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.94.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.4%

WSM stock opened at $160.32 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $157.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.29. The firm has a market cap of $19.71 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. 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 1.65%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

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.