EFG Asset Management North America Corp. Increases Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. increased its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 51.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,593 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 4,961 shares during the period. EFG Asset Management North America Corp.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 16,398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,205,000 after purchasing an additional 4,510 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 54.9% during the 2nd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,961,000 after acquiring an additional 8,592 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 153.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 12,279 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after acquiring an additional 7,439 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1,705.3% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 118,371 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $19,338,000 after acquiring an additional 111,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 8.0% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 816,176 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $133,029,000 after purchasing an additional 60,163 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WSM shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $202.00 to $188.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $206.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group set a $175.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $200.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.39, for a total value of $7,258,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 806,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $167,267,708.43. This trade represents a 4.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.16, for a total value of $157,357.72. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $2,715,497.76. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 65,767 shares of company stock valued at $12,802,440. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.8%

WSM opened at $208.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.58. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.07 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $190.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $191.91.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 53.10% and a net margin of 14.30%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.04%.

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.