Saxon Interests Inc. Buys New Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Saxon Interests Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,343 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. State Street Corp grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 0.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,269,096 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $283,955,000 after purchasing an additional 15,078 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,456,161 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $226,287,000 after buying an additional 18,004 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,408,911 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $204,292,000 after acquiring an additional 273,424 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,142,272 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $142,944,000 after acquiring an additional 35,315 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 35.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 815,713 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $93,742,000 after acquiring an additional 213,398 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM traded up $3.50 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $317.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 846,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,071,424. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.79, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $239.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.46. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.44 and a 12-month high of $319.70.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.13 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 24.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,145 shares of company stock worth $10,044,174 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley raised Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $154.00 to $263.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $249.31.

Williams-Sonoma 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.