Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 74,420 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 7,600 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.06% of Williams-Sonoma worth $13,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,360,384,000 after buying an additional 3,695,837 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $825,588,000 after buying an additional 2,777,339 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $418,223,000 after buying an additional 1,393,436 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $326,931,000 after buying an additional 1,145,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,036,256 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $160,537,000 after buying an additional 792,068 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.
In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total transaction of $560,552.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,228,767.32. This represents a 6.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $194.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $172.34.
Read Our Latest Report on Williams-Sonoma
NYSE:WSM traded down $14.30 on Friday, reaching $195.03. 1,702,748 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,116,127. The company has a market capitalization of $24.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.79. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $110.93 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $200.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $166.06.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.97%.
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.
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