GAMMA Investing LLC Raises Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 117.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,712 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 923 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 536.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 383,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $108,345,000 after purchasing an additional 323,400 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 28.6% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 964,910 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $272,462,000 after buying an additional 214,669 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter worth $58,213,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 37.5% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 704,919 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $223,833,000 after purchasing an additional 192,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 73.4% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 380,383 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $107,409,000 after buying an additional 161,000 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were 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 directly owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 91,100 shares of company stock worth $13,563,526 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WSM. TD Cowen raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.17.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE WSM opened at $141.68 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.56 and a 52 week high of $174.26. The stock has a market cap of $18.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $141.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $146.75.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.01%.

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.