Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 1,874 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Bank of Nova Scotia decreased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 30.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,359 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,874 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WSM shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $145.13 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.92 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. The business has a 50 day moving average of $177.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.75. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.30%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $1,212,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. The trade was a 32.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 120,720 shares of company stock valued at $21,828,609. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma 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.