Cibc World Market Inc. Sells 8,772 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Cibc World Market Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 33.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,760 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 8,772 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $3,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Lido Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 7,042 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,371,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,667 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,339,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 28,886 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,159,000 after buying an additional 12,871 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 34,999 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,250,000 after buying an additional 7,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spinnaker Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 1,464 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays set a $190.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered Williams-Sonoma from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $190.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Citigroup decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $208.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.06.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $202.28 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $188.83 and a 200 day moving average of $192.70. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $152.20 and a fifty-two week high of $222.00. The firm has a market cap of $23.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.51.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 53.29% and a net margin of 13.81%.The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 17th were paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 29.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 32,684 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.64, for a total value of $5,904,037.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,138 shares in the company, valued at $6,166,688.32. This trade represents a 48.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 2,267 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.49, for a total value of $436,374.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 23,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,494,833.99. This represents a 8.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 106,370 shares of company stock worth $19,720,823 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Williams-Sonoma

Williams‑Sonoma, Inc is a specialty retailer focused on the home and culinary markets, best known for premium cookware, kitchen tools and home furnishings. The company traces its roots to a single cookware store founded by Chuck Williams in 1956 in Sonoma, California, and has evolved into a multi‑brand home furnishings and housewares business. Its merchandise mix spans cookware and kitchen electrics, tabletop and food prep items, furniture, bedding, lighting and decorative accessories designed for both everyday use and higher‑end interiors.

The company operates a portfolio of consumer brands that target distinct segments of the home market.