Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 94.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,346 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 74,616 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 104.1% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 47,065 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $7,291,000 after buying an additional 24,009 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 97.8% in the third quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 105,931 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $16,411,000 after purchasing an additional 52,388 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4.6% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 49,298 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $7,637,000 after buying an additional 2,172 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter valued at $326,000. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 1,936 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 796 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,040,099. This trade represents a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

WSM opened at $130.65 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.49 and a 52-week high of $174.26.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 27.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on WSM. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $139.47.

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.