BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments Acquires Shares of 14,900 Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 14,900 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,446,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,016 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.3% during the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 482 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.5% in the first quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 13.0% in the first quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 583 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 4.8% in the second quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on WSM. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Citigroup dropped 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. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.00.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

WSM opened at $180.26 on Monday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $130.07 and a one year high of $219.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $190.01 and its 200-day moving average is $183.35. The company has a market capitalization of $21.52 billion, a PE ratio of 19.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.56.

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

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, 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 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 $2,783,656.37. This trade represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 12,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.07, for a total transaction of $2,201,992.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 846,927 shares in the company, valued at $153,353,071.89. This represents a 1.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 144,153 shares of company stock valued at $28,287,440 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.