Aigen Investment Management LP Increases Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Aigen Investment Management LP increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 110.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,041 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,223 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Novare Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 68.7% in the third quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC now owns 10,145 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,572,000 after acquiring an additional 4,132 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 105.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 173,621 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,897,000 after purchasing an additional 88,936 shares during the last quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 86.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. now owns 11,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 5,369 shares during the period. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the third quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 10,200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,580,000 after purchasing an additional 5,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Telos Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 95.1% during the third quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 44,860 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,950,000 after buying an additional 21,870 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays dropped their target price 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. Finally, Wedbush downgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given 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 $139.47.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of WSM opened at $129.13 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $141.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $144.87. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.41 and a twelve month high of $174.26. The company has a market cap of $16.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.56 EPS. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current 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 $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at $149,766,978.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,040,099. 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.

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.