Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 590 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Foster & Motley Inc. cut its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 4.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,458 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 590 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.7% during the second quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 64,986 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $10,617,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,343 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 816,176 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $133,029,000 after purchasing an additional 60,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $598,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Two equities research 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.56.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $185.65 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $196.82 and a 200-day moving average of $175.29. The company has a market capitalization of $22.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.21. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 14.54%.The company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued 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 (DPR) is presently 29.04%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.17, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 114,153 shares of company stock valued at $22,901,008. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.