Stevens Capital Management LP Purchases New Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,156 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,360,384,000 after acquiring an additional 3,695,837 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $825,588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777,339 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $418,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,436 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,036,256 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $160,537,000 after buying an additional 792,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 104.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,105,336 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $171,239,000 after buying an additional 565,745 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $170.32 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $196.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $172.90.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.30%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WSM shares. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.