Ameriprise Financial Inc. Has $69.07 Million Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 25.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 372,971 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 130,621 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $69,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth $46,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Tobam bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on WSM shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird raised Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.94.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.78, for a total value of $627,120.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 42,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,645,590.64. This trade represents a 8.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total value of $4,973,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $168,826,041.72. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. 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 quarter. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE:WSM opened at $160.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $157.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.79.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.