Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Lowers Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations cut its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 74.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,927 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 5,657 shares during the period. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations’ holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 37.9% during the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 16,398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,205,000 after acquiring an additional 4,510 shares during the period. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 51.5% in the third quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 14,593 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,852,000 after purchasing an additional 4,961 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 997,414 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $194,947,000 after purchasing an additional 231,489 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 54.9% during the 2nd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,961,000 after purchasing an additional 8,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 153.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 12,279 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,016,000 after buying an additional 7,439 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WSM shares. Evercore raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore ISI set a $215.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $202.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 35,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.39, for a total transaction of $7,258,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 806,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,267,708.43. The trade was a 4.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 767 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.16, for a total value of $157,357.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $2,715,497.76. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 65,767 shares of company stock worth $12,802,440 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $206.86 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.07 and a fifty-two week high of $221.81. The company has a market cap of $24.69 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $198.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.89.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The specialty retailer reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 53.10%. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 29.04%.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

Williams‑Sonoma, Inc is a specialty retailer focused on the home and culinary markets, best known for premium cookware, kitchen tools and home furnishings. The company traces its roots to a single cookware store founded by Chuck Williams in 1956 in Sonoma, California, and has evolved into a multi‑brand home furnishings and housewares business. Its merchandise mix spans cookware and kitchen electrics, tabletop and food prep items, furniture, bedding, lighting and decorative accessories designed for both everyday use and higher‑end interiors.

The company operates a portfolio of consumer brands that target distinct segments of the home market.