Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Raises Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 1,844.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 47,733 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 45,278 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $8,703,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5,019.6% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 89,388 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $15,964,000 after purchasing an additional 87,642 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 972,810 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $174,473,000 after purchasing an additional 89,779 shares in the last quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,605,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 294,598 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $52,612,000 after buying an additional 56,578 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,269,461 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $443,566,000 after buying an additional 532,995 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $3,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 923,524 shares in the company, valued at $184,704,800. This represents a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 1,112 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total value of $254,080.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 21,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,962,117.33. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 55,320 shares of company stock valued at $10,516,069 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target (up from $220.00) on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $192.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Evercore set a $200.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.47.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE WSM opened at $227.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.49. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.76 and a 12 month high of $244.65. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $203.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $198.85.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 53.29%. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.85 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, July 17th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 22.17%.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

Williams?Sonoma, Inc is a specialty retailer focused on the home and culinary markets, best known for premium cookware, kitchen tools and home furnishings. The company traces its roots to a single cookware store founded by Chuck Williams in 1956 in Sonoma, California, and has evolved into a multi?brand home furnishings and housewares business. Its merchandise mix spans cookware and kitchen electrics, tabletop and food prep items, furniture, bedding, lighting and decorative accessories designed for both everyday use and higher?end interiors.

The company operates a portfolio of consumer brands that target distinct segments of the home market.