3,658 Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Acquired by Empirical Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Empirical Asset Management LLC has acquired 3,658 shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc., valued at approximately $598,000, highlighting continued interest from institutional investors, who now own 99.29% of the company's stock.
• CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares for $18 million, reducing their ownership stake by 9.31%, while CFO Jeffrey Howie sold over 3,000 shares, indicating significant insider activity.
• Analysts have increased their price targets for Williams-Sonoma, with JPMorgan Chase raising it from $168.00 to $215.00, reflecting a generally positive outlook for the stock.

Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,658 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $598,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Maseco LLP bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 99.0% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 199 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 123.6% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.17, for a total value of $18,015,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 876,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,534,477.59. The trade was a 9.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total transaction of $626,942.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,787,999.92. The trade was a 8.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 114,153 shares of company stock valued at $22,901,008 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WSM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Argus set a $212.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $198.56.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $185.65 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $196.82 and a 200 day moving average of $175.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.55.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.21. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 54.47%. The company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is 29.04%.

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.

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