ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,293 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,536,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $290,121,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $418,223,000 after buying an additional 1,393,436 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 19,941.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 495,619 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $91,779,000 after acquiring an additional 493,146 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $158,085,000 after acquiring an additional 467,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 118.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 622,279 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $96,403,000 after acquiring an additional 337,564 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WSM shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wedbush decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Baird R W raised Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $145.04. The stock had a trading volume of 295,789 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,334,282. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $177.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.13, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.44 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $1,212,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,501,002.65. This trade represents a 32.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 120,720 shares of company stock valued at $21,828,609. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

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.