Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,842 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth about $895,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 26.4% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 44,398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,019,000 after buying an additional 9,266 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 128.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 217,644 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $34,410,000 after buying an additional 122,180 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 10.6% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,402 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after buying an additional 1,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 26.2% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 14,197 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,245,000 after buying an additional 2,945 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total value of $626,942.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,787,999.92. This trade represents a 8.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.17, for a total transaction of $18,015,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 876,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $175,534,477.59. The trade was a 9.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 114,153 shares of company stock valued at $22,901,008. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a 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 assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.11.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM stock opened at $190.01 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.55. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $197.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.61. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98.

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

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.04%.

Williams-Sonoma Profile

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.