Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Shares Purchased by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 48.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,951 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,570 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $3,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas now owns 49,980 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $9,113,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Advisors MI raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 9,166 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,671,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 79.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 953 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Talon Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at $557,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 9.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 44,195 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,058,000 after acquiring an additional 3,978 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $228.89 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $221.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.96. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $165.51 and a twelve month high of $244.65. The stock has a market cap of $26.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.49.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.93 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.85 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on WSM shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $208.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley set a $210.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, June 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Finally, Argus set a $230.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.47.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $3,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 923,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,704,800. This trade represents a 1.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a 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, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 1,112 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total value of $254,080.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 21,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,962,117.33. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 36,634 shares of company stock valued at $6,812,283. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma 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.