BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Trims Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S cut its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 80.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 20,042 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 82,316 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $3,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 147 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 81.8% during the fourth quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 90 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 research firms have weighed in on WSM. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Argus set a $230.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $190.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays set a $190.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.47.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE WSM opened at $225.95 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $196.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.74. The company has a market cap of $26.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.51. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $154.11 and a 1-year high of $234.41.

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 9.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 22.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 1,112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total transaction of $254,080.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 21,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,962,117.33. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $3,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 923,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $184,704,800. This trade represents a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold a total of 88,004 shares of company stock valued at $16,420,107 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Profile

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.