Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft Takes $452,000 Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,650 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $452,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 147 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. MidFirst Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 229.4% in the first quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC now owns 168 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $221.15 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $26.04 billion, a PE ratio of 24.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.49. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $165.51 and a fifty-two week high of $244.65. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $201.94.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the business earned $1.85 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 34.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore set a $200.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $218.00 in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $192.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays set a $190.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Argus set a $230.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.65.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.61, for a total transaction of $3,452,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 938,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $161,998,627.64. The trade was a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 1,112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total value of $254,080.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 21,717 shares in the company, valued at $4,962,117.33. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold a total of 36,634 shares of company stock worth $6,812,283 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma 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.