Swiss National Bank Acquires 16,500 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 350,300 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 16,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.29% of Williams-Sonoma worth $63,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,139,477 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,199,961,000 after acquiring an additional 147,780 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,440,452 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $435,840,000 after acquiring an additional 170,991 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,919,466 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $342,797,000 after acquiring an additional 130,940 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at $316,920,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,661,365 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $296,703,000 after purchasing an additional 86,807 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $221.15 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $212.73 and a 200 day moving average of $201.94. The firm has a market cap of $26.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.49. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $165.51 and a 1 year high of $244.65.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 53.29%. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 34.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus set a $230.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $218.00 in a report on Monday, April 13th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $190.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $192.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $212.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $3,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 923,524 shares in the company, valued at $184,704,800. This represents a 1.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 1,112 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total value of $254,080.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 21,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,962,117.33. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 36,634 shares of company stock worth $6,812,283. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

About Williams-Sonoma

Williams?Sonoma, Inc is a specialty retailer focused on the home and culinary markets, best known for premium cookware, kitchen tools and home furnishings. The company traces its roots to a single cookware store founded by Chuck Williams in 1956 in Sonoma, California, and has evolved into a multi?brand home furnishings and housewares business. Its merchandise mix spans cookware and kitchen electrics, tabletop and food prep items, furniture, bedding, lighting and decorative accessories designed for both everyday use and higher?end interiors.

The company operates a portfolio of consumer brands that target distinct segments of the home market.