BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Boosts Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 130.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 304,821 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 172,709 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned about 0.24% of Williams-Sonoma worth $47,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 166 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth $30,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, valued at $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,040,099. This represents a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 91,100 shares of company stock valued at $12,525,126 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $172.95 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $89.87 and a 1-year high of $181.42. The company has a market capitalization of $21.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.46, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $142.34 and a 200-day moving average of $144.55.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 26.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on WSM. TD Cowen increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.41.

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.