Trexquant Investment LP Invests $18.57 Million in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 100,269 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $18,568,000. Trexquant Investment LP owned about 0.08% of Williams-Sonoma as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WSM. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $825,588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,393,436 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth about $290,121,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,036,256 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $160,537,000 after buying an additional 792,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $158,085,000 after acquiring an additional 467,407 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $7,690,666.52. This trade represents a 43.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on WSM shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $177.60.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of WSM stock traded up $6.12 on Wednesday, hitting $164.99. The stock had a trading volume of 2,211,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,983,772. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $191.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.01. The firm has a market cap of $20.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.44 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. 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 yield of 1.60%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

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.