Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 2,083 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,130 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,083 shares during the period. Williams-Sonoma accounts for 1.3% of Cascade Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $2,471,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,797,562 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 34.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,436,839 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $227,164,000 after purchasing an additional 365,718 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $170,267,000 after purchasing an additional 254,550 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 740.4% in the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 591,690 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $96,664,000 after purchasing an additional 521,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at $85,075,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WSM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Argus set a $212.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.11.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $181.42 on Monday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The stock has a market cap of $22.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $198.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.39.

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

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 29.04%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total value of $626,942.52. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,138 shares in the company, valued at $6,787,999.92. The trade was a 8.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were 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 owned 98,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,066,816. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 144,153 shares of company stock valued at $27,946,408 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.