Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Takes $426,000 Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,695 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $426,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 123.6% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total value of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,810,196.48. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.33, for a total transaction of $4,929,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 996,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $163,825,013.91. This represents a 2.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 68,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,279,580 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WSM shares. Robert W. Baird raised Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays set a $166.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. KeyCorp raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $181.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Baird R W raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $178.41.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE WSM traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $187.66. 441,835 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,962,170. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98. The company has a market capitalization of $23.08 billion, a PE ratio of 21.28, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.45. The firm's 50-day moving average is $166.98 and its 200-day moving average is $173.65.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 52.79%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.48 EPS. Williams-Sonoma's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.90%.

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.