Xponance Inc. Has $5.29 Million Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,548 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,946 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $5,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 239.1% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,560 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 1,805 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 106.7% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,694 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 1,907 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth $3,142,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 94.7% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 30,454 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,718,000 after buying an additional 14,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 111.2% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 381,800 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $59,148,000 after buying an additional 201,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $179.53.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $166.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.46 billion, a PE ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $198.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.88.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.44 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This trade 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 the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95 % 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 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.