Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Shares Purchased by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 17.3%, owning 52,058 shares valued at approximately $8.5 million after buying additional shares in the 2nd quarter.
• Insider trading activity revealed that both EVP Karalyn Yearout and CEO Laura Alber sold shares of Williams-Sonoma, reducing their stock ownership by 20% and 9.31%, respectively.
• Williams-Sonoma recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 to be paid on November 21st, reflecting a 1.4% dividend yield based on the current share price.

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,058 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 7,660 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $8,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,016 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.3% in the 1st 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 increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.5% in the 1st 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. Groupe la Francaise grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 583 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $757,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.79, for a total value of $695,765.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,656.37. This trade represents a 20.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 876,927 shares in the company, valued at $175,534,477.59. This trade represents a 9.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 114,153 shares of company stock valued at $22,901,008. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Citigroup raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. UBS Group set a $200.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Two investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.11.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 4.7%

WSM opened at $190.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $23.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.55. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The business's 50 day moving average is $197.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.61.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 14.54%.The firm's revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.04%.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.

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