Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Buys New Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,190 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,517,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 396 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $643,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Westmount Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 6,242 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 4,091 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $758,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on WSM. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE WSM opened at $164.57 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $194.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.06.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders 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 represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.30%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.