Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Shares Acquired by Entropy Technologies LP

Entropy Technologies LP grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 240.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,374 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 13,681 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $3,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,248,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth about $227,000. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $1,644,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 9.0% during the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 4,153 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.9% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,631 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $757,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $3,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 923,524 shares in the company, valued at $184,704,800. This represents a 1.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.45, for a total value of $267,410.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,433,306.10. This trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 86,892 shares of company stock worth $16,166,026 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $208.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Argus set a $230.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $190.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $210.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.47.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $223.19 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.28 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.51. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $152.20 and a 12 month high of $224.33. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.85.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 53.29% and a net margin of 13.81%.The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.56%.

About Williams-Sonoma

Williams‑Sonoma, Inc is a specialty retailer focused on the home and culinary markets, best known for premium cookware, kitchen tools and home furnishings. The company traces its roots to a single cookware store founded by Chuck Williams in 1956 in Sonoma, California, and has evolved into a multi‑brand home furnishings and housewares business. Its merchandise mix spans cookware and kitchen electrics, tabletop and food prep items, furniture, bedding, lighting and decorative accessories designed for both everyday use and higher‑end interiors.

The company operates a portfolio of consumer brands that target distinct segments of the home market.