Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Shares Acquired by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,040 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 881 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Maseco LLP acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 99.0% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 199 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.6%

WSM opened at $199.29 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $197.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.59. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The firm has a market cap of $24.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.92, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.55.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 14.54%.Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.60, for a total transaction of $3,563,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,560 shares in the company, valued at $20,066,816. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of the 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 owned 14,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,656.37. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 144,153 shares of company stock valued at $27,946,408 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.