Vontobel Holding Ltd. Raises Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 33.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 20,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,030 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $3,288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,248,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth about $227,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 63.3% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,782 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,466 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at about $209,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 865.7% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,557 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 5,878 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 4.2%

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $181.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $198.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.26. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its 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 analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 14.54%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 29.04%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total value of $626,942.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,787,999.92. The trade was a 8.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.60, for a total value of $3,563,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,066,816. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 144,153 shares of company stock worth $27,946,408. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Argus set a $212.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.11.

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.