Little House Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 4,391 Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Little House Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,391 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $801,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WSM. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth $14,516,000. Swiss National Bank raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 350,300 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $63,870,000 after purchasing an additional 16,500 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 11,262 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,992,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at about $961,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 8.9% during the first quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 241,412 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $44,017,000 after buying an additional 19,650 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 1,112 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total value of $254,080.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 21,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,962,117.33. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.61, for a total transaction of $3,452,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 938,524 shares in the company, valued at $161,998,627.64. This represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 36,634 shares of company stock worth $6,812,283 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.1%

WSM stock opened at $228.50 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $210.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $201.24. The stock has a market cap of $26.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.59, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.49. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $165.51 and a fifty-two week high of $244.65.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 53.29%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WSM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $218.00 in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Barclays set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $208.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Evercore set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, June 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.65.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.