Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Trims Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 94.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,346 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 74,616 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 245.5% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 190 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wedbush downgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $139.47.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of WSM stock opened at $130.65 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $141.35 and its 200 day moving average is $144.50. The firm has a market cap of $16.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.70, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.49 and a 52-week high of $174.26.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 27.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The trade was a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.