Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Shares Sold by Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec

Key Points

• The Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec sold 11,621 shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc., reducing its stake by 21.3% in the first quarter.
• Insider transactions revealed significant sales by executives, including CFO Jeffrey Howie selling 4,000 shares and CEO Laura Alber selling 30,000 shares of the company.
• Williams-Sonoma reported earnings of $2.00 EPS for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, with a 2.7% increase in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year.

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec decreased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 21.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,873 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 11,621 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $6,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 99.0% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 199 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $5,045,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays set a $166.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. 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 report on Thursday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, August 25th. One 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $199.11.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $191.89 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $23.60 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.52. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.01.

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

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

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