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

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 391.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,380 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,034 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $3,959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 186.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,536 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 4,901 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 97.1% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after buying an additional 9,509 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 27.2% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 38,512 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,966,000 after buying an additional 8,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,641,000 after buying an additional 12,061 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WSM. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.34.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 3.1 %

NYSE WSM opened at $192.16 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.41 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $201.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.62. The firm has a market cap of $23.65 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.79.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 26.98%.

Insider Activity

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

About Williams-Sonoma

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.