Eisler Capital Management Ltd. Purchases New Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• Eisler Capital Management has acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by purchasing 26,077 shares valued at approximately $4.1 million during the first quarter.
• Insider sales included CEO Laura Alber selling 30,000 shares for over $5 million, resulting in a significant decrease in her ownership percentage.
• Williams-Sonoma reported a quarterly EPS of $2.00, exceeding analyst estimates, with revenue of $1.84 billion, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 2.7%.

Eisler Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 26,077 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $4,119,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 21.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,630,310 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,471,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,797,562 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth $85,075,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1,272.6% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 512,846 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $81,081,000 after purchasing an additional 475,484 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 16,087.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 264,343 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $41,793,000 after purchasing an additional 262,710 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 31.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,076,959 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $170,267,000 after purchasing an additional 254,550 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total transaction of $5,045,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 966,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $162,617,782.86. This trade represents a 3.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total value of $675,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,000 shares of company stock valued at $6,349,680 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on WSM. Barclays set a $166.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Zelman & Associates assumed coverage on Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued an "underperform" rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $182.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $189.65.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $192.61 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The business's fifty day moving average price is $182.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $172.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.69 billion, a PE ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.47.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.21. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 52.79% and a net margin of 14.35%.The company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is 29.90%.

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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