Summit Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 70.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,017 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 29,327 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,016 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.3% in the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 482 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.5% during the first quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 583 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $757,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $197.12 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $24.01 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.56. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $128.37 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.96.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.21. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 54.47%. The firm had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WSM. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group set a $200.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Two investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.56.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,066,816. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total transaction 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 $6,787,999.92. This trade represents a 8.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 114,153 shares of company stock worth $22,901,008. Company 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.