Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Reduces Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lowered its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 854 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $538,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $158,085,000 after acquiring an additional 467,407 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 659.6% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 531,304 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $82,309,000 after purchasing an additional 461,361 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 536.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 383,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $108,345,000 after purchasing an additional 323,400 shares during the period. HS Management Partners LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 121.0% in the third quarter. HS Management Partners LLC now owns 401,105 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $62,139,000 after buying an additional 219,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 28.6% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 964,910 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $272,462,000 after buying an additional 214,669 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The trade was a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 91,100 shares of company stock valued at $12,525,126. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE:WSM opened at $172.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.46, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.55. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $89.87 and a 1 year high of $181.42.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.97%.

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.