Cromwell Holdings LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 7,675.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 311 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $51,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WSM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,630,310 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,471,152,000 after buying an additional 2,797,562 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth $85,075,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 740.4% in the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 591,690 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $96,664,000 after acquiring an additional 521,283 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1,272.6% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 512,846 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $81,081,000 after purchasing an additional 475,484 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 38,589.3% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 451,891 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $71,444,000 after purchasing an additional 450,723 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,066,816. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.17, for a total value of $18,015,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 876,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $175,534,477.59. This trade represents a 9.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 144,153 shares of company stock worth $27,946,408 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. UBS Group set a $200.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.11.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $199.29 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $197.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.55.

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

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.04%.

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.