Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Makes New $326,000 Investment in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,105 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $158,085,000 after acquiring an additional 467,407 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 536.3% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 383,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $108,345,000 after acquiring an additional 323,400 shares during the last quarter. HS Management Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 121.0% in the 3rd quarter. HS Management Partners LLC now owns 401,105 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $62,139,000 after acquiring an additional 219,591 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 964,910 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $272,462,000 after acquiring an additional 214,669 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 212.4% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 313,335 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $48,542,000 after acquiring an additional 213,035 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,040,099. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WSM. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $139.47.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $129.89 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.41 and a fifty-two week high of $174.26. The stock has a market cap of $16.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.76. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.95.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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.