Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Royal Bank of Canada lessened its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 32.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 254,714 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 125,139 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.21% of Williams-Sonoma worth $47,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Tobam purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on WSM. UBS Group dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird raised Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wedbush decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $177.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. This trade represents a 43.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $1,212,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,501,002.65. The trade was a 32.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 80,635 shares of company stock worth $13,236,175. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM traded up $5.82 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $163.67. The company had a trading volume of 442,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,030,475. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $156.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. Williams-Sonoma's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.48 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

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.