CIBC Asset Management Inc Buys 1,907 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 106.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,694 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,907 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $572,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 97.1% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 3,038 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 207.2% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 6,529 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,011,000 after acquiring an additional 4,404 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 111.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 4,848 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,555 shares in the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 64.5% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 773 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WSM shares. Wedbush downgraded Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, 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 ninety days, insiders sold 91,100 shares of company stock valued at $12,525,126. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $175.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.46, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $88.63 and a one year high of $181.42. The business has a fifty day moving average of $141.53 and a 200 day moving average of $144.33.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.98 EPS 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. Investors 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 yield of 1.30%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

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.