Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Stock Position Lowered by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 267,218 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 16,369 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $47,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth approximately $227,000. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at $1,644,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 4,153 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.9% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,631 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $757,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WSM. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $208.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, June 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Argus set a $230.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, May 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $192.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays set a $190.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.47.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $227.20 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $198.95. The company has a market cap of $26.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.44, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.49. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.76 and a 1 year high of $244.65.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 53.29% and a net margin of 13.81%.The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.85 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,419 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.45, for a total transaction of $267,410.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,138 shares in the company, valued at $6,433,306.10. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $3,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 923,524 shares in the company, valued at $184,704,800. This represents a 1.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 55,320 shares of company stock valued at $10,516,069. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.