AXQ Capital LP Sells 3,428 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

AXQ Capital LP lowered its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 71.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,385 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 3,428 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter worth $3,142,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 94.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 30,454 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,718,000 after purchasing an additional 14,816 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 68.5% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 942 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 136.3% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 9,801 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 5,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 104.0% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,481 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $3,173,000 after buying an additional 10,441 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value 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. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock traded down $0.79 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $164.57. 1,334,009 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,914,675. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $195.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is 29.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $177.93.

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.