KBC Group NV Has $14.09 Million Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

KBC Group NV lessened its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 84.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,094 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 473,964 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned 0.07% of Williams-Sonoma worth $14,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,225 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,079,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 396 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 4,091 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,575 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,969 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.33, for a total value of $4,929,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 996,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,825,013.91. This trade represents a 2.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.11, for a total value of $628,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 38,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,031,138.68. This trade represents a 9.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,915 shares of company stock worth $7,527,346. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird raised Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. One research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $176.75.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM traded up $5.83 on Tuesday, hitting $169.20. The stock had a trading volume of 1,425,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,979,319. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $160.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.72. The company has a market capitalization of $20.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.48.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 52.79%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.48 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.90%.

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.