Ascent Group LLC Has $340,000 Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Ascent Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,084 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 286 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter worth approximately $72,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 27.9% during the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 4,040 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 881 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter worth $180,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 7,675.0% during the second quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 311 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,665 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,723,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.60, for a total value of $3,563,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,066,816. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,787,999.92. This trade represents a 8.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 144,153 shares of company stock valued at $27,946,408 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM stock opened at $189.19 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $198.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.93. The firm has a market cap of $23.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.55. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 14.54%.The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on WSM shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.11.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.