Axa S.A. Trims Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Axa S.A. cut its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 61.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,097 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 9,623 shares during the period. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Tobam bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth $55,000. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 80,635 shares of company stock valued at $13,236,175. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Baird R W raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.94.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.4 %

WSM stock opened at $160.32 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $157.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.79.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS 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 paid a $0.66 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. 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.