Ieq Capital LLC Acquires New Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,366 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,549,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,360,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,695,837 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $825,588,000 after buying an additional 2,777,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $418,223,000 after buying an additional 1,393,436 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $326,931,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 104.8% during 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 worth $171,239,000 after acquiring an additional 565,745 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total transaction of $560,552.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $8,228,767.32. The trade was a 6.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:WSM opened at $194.44 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.25 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The firm has a market cap of $23.94 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $200.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.45.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.34.

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.