Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Shares Purchased by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 121,058 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,687 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $19,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased 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 during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 12.2% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,319 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $208,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 123.6% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.79, for a total value of $695,765.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,783,656.37. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total transaction of $626,942.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,787,999.92. This trade represents a 8.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 114,153 shares of company stock valued at $22,901,008 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Argus set a $212.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group set a $200.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.56.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 3.6%

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $199.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $24.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.70. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released 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. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 54.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 29.04%.

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.