KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys 800 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 88,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 800 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $14,491,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.3% during the second quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,115 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,430,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Clarius Group LLC increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 2,089 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Impact Investors Inc increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Impact Investors Inc now owns 8,892 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,447 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total value of $626,942.52. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,787,999.92. This trade represents a 8.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.79, for a total transaction of $695,765.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,003 shares in the company, valued at $2,783,656.37. This trade represents a 20.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 144,153 shares of company stock worth $27,946,408 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. 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. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.11.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $191.02 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $198.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.05. The firm has a market cap of $23.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.55.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion for 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%. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

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 $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.04%.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.