Talon Private Wealth LLC Takes $557,000 Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Talon Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,054 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $557,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,644,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 4,153 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,631 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $757,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 1.0%

WSM stock opened at $233.92 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $165.51 and a 12 month high of $244.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $219.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.54. The stock has a market cap of $27.54 billion, a PE ratio of 26.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.49.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company posted $1.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, July 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WSM. Evercore set a $200.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $253.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays set a $190.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $218.00 in a research report on Monday, April 13th. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 1,112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total transaction of $254,080.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,962,117.33. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.61, for a total transaction of $3,452,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 938,524 shares of the company’s stock, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,634 shares of company stock valued at $6,812,283. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.