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

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 563 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $109,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at $220,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,102,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 20,711 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after buying an additional 2,128 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 425.3% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 78,060 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $15,751,000 after buying an additional 63,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at $3,632,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $263.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $248.06.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total value of $685,732.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,185,328.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM stock opened at $282.16 on Monday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.44 and a 1-year high of $319.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.13 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.69. The business has a 50-day moving average of $275.21 and a 200 day moving average of $218.52.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.50 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.02%.

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.