Trexquant Investment LP Takes $18.57 Million Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 100,269 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $18,568,000. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.08% of Williams-Sonoma at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $825,588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $418,223,000 after buying an additional 1,393,436 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth about $290,121,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,036,256 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $160,537,000 after acquiring an additional 792,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $158,085,000 after acquiring an additional 467,407 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total value of $4,973,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. This trade represents a 43.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369 in the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $158.05 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $193.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.97.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.