DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Has $3.04 Million Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale reduced its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 26.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,094 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 5,420 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $3,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 863.6% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 212 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 129.3% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 229.8% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 277 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 820.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of WSM stock opened at $288.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $261.99 and a 200-day moving average of $208.81. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.44 and a 1-year high of $319.78.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $5,490,713.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,140,909.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.92, for a total transaction of $4,038,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 525,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,110,777.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total value of $5,490,713.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 61,145 shares of company stock valued at $16,220,619 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $249.31.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.