National Pension Service Acquires 27,104 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 385,107 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 27,104 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $68,776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,139,477 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,199,961,000 after buying an additional 147,780 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,269,461 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $443,566,000 after purchasing an additional 532,995 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter worth about $254,778,000. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 31.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,094,336 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $213,888,000 after purchasing an additional 263,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,014,643 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $181,213,000 after purchasing an additional 17,229 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $208.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective (up from $220.00) on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Argus set a $230.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $218.00 in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $210.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.06.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 32,684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.64, for a total transaction of $5,904,037.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,166,688.32. The trade was a 48.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 2,267 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.49, for a total value of $436,374.83. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 23,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,494,833.99. The trade was a 8.85% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 106,370 shares of company stock worth $19,720,823. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.8%

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $203.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.49. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $152.20 and a 1 year high of $222.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $185.98 and a 200-day moving average of $191.90.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 53.29% and a net margin of 13.81%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.85 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 17th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 17th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.56%.

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.