Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Has $1.58 Million Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 19.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,663 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,354 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,578,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Maseco LLP acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 99.0% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 199 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 7,675.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 311 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total transaction of $626,942.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,787,999.92. The trade was a 8.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.79, for a total value of $695,765.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,656.37. This trade represents a 20.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 144,153 shares of company stock valued at $28,287,440. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE WSM opened at $181.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.56. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.07 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $190.73 and a 200-day moving average of $183.17.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The specialty retailer reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 14.54%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 29.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WSM. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $202.00 to $188.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.00.

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.