Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC Raises Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 150,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $26,788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 147 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,878 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 25.1% during the third quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 274 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 10,438 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $208.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $185.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $207.81.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE:WSM opened at $168.51 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $19.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $184.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $192.21. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $147.39 and a 1-year high of $222.00.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 18th. The specialty retailer reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.14. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 51.45%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.28 EPS. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.83%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $3,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 958,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $191,704,800. The trade was a 1.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,419 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.45, for a total value of $267,410.55. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,433,306.10. This trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 71,370 shares of company stock worth $13,268,623 over the last 90 days. Company 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.