Fifth Third Bancorp Trims Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Fifth Third Bancorp lessened its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,573 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 387 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth $278,000. Mutual Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at $258,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at $378,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 42.0% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 8,679 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after buying an additional 2,567 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WSM. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $194.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.34.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % 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 3,160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total value of $560,552.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,228,767.32. The trade was a 6.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 88,160 shares of company stock worth $15,129,352 in the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $211.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.79. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $95.76 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $159.55.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.97%.

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.