Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Shares Sold by CW Advisors LLC

Key Points

• CW Advisors LLC significantly reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 93.8%, now holding only 1,368 shares valued at approximately $217,000 after selling over 20,000 shares in the first quarter.
• Williams-Sonoma's CFO and CEO both sold shares recently, with the CFO selling 4,000 shares and the CEO selling 30,000 shares, resulting in a decrease of 10.42% and 3.01% in their respective holdings.
• The company reported earnings of $2.00 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, yielding 1.4%.

CW Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 93.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,368 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 20,536 shares during the period. CW Advisors LLC's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 15.3% during the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 482 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 5.5% during the first quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.5% during the first quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $757,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. First Bank & Trust boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% during the first quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 1,463 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 2.6% during the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,159 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $499,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock traded down $0.29 on Friday, reaching $187.77. The company had a trading volume of 1,611,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,542,294. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $183.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.92. The firm has a market cap of $23.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.52. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98.

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

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is 29.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WSM. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group set a $200.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $198.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total value of $5,045,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 966,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $162,617,782.86. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total transaction of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,810,196.48. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,000 shares of company stock worth $6,349,680 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma 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.