27,096 Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Acquired by XTX Topco Ltd

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd acquired 27,096 shares of Williams-Sonoma, valued at approximately $4.28 million, marking the company's first quarter investment.
• Williams-Sonoma's stock price has been affected by various analysts, with target prices ranging from $166.00 to $181.00, and a consensus rating of "Hold."
• CEO Laura Alber and CFO Jeffrey Howie recently sold significant shares of the company, with insiders collectively selling 72,000 shares valued at nearly $11.9 million over the last ninety days.

XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 27,096 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $4,284,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 123.6% in the first 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 currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 0.3%

WSM traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $187.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,407,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,969,094. The firm has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $166.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.65. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 52.79% and a net margin of 14.35%. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.48 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total transaction of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total value of $5,045,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 966,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $162,617,782.86. The trade was a 3.01% 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 quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Baird R W raised Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Williams-Sonoma from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $181.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $178.41.

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.