Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Shares Purchased by Venturi Wealth Management LLC

Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,035 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at about $895,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 44,398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,019,000 after acquiring an additional 9,266 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 128.0% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 217,644 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $34,410,000 after acquiring an additional 122,180 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,402 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 14,197 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 2,945 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WSM. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Argus set a $212.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.11.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $191.02 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.55. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $198.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.05.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.21. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 14.54%.The firm had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 29.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.60, for a total transaction of $3,563,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,560 shares in the company, valued at $20,066,816. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.17, for a total value of $18,015,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 876,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $175,534,477.59. This represents a 9.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 144,153 shares of company stock valued at $27,946,408. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.