California State Teachers Retirement System Has $8.60 Billion Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 21,796.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,913,716 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 36,745,135 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 31.35% of Williams-Sonoma worth $8,604,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in 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 in the fourth quarter valued at about $227,000. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth about $1,644,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 4,153 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,631 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $757,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on WSM shares. Telsey Advisory Group set a $260.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Evercore set a $245.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, August 27th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $270.00 price objective (up from $250.00) on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $245.56.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM stock opened at $227.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $26.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.47. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $165.51 and a one year high of $254.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $232.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.02.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The specialty retailer reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.73% and a return on equity of 53.48%. The business's revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 17th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 522 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.39, for a total transaction of $128,615.58. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,975,846.05. The trade was a 2.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,634 shares of company stock worth $632,696. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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