Intech Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,512 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,237 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $5,966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 28.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 7,281 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth approximately $286,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 374.8% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total transaction of $5,219,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 990,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $129,309,848.44. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This trade represents a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126 in the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $171.88 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.74. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.31 and a 1 year high of $181.42. The company has a market capitalization of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 26.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WSM shares. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.41.

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.