Stevens Capital Management LP Takes $214,000 Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,156 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 30,454 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,718,000 after buying an additional 14,816 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 448 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 98.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 833,355 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $129,103,000 after purchasing an additional 413,226 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth $4,833,000. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 54.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,570 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE:WSM opened at $170.32 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $172.90. The company has a market capitalization of $20.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on WSM. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.93.

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.