Caprock Group LLC Purchases New Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,299 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,750,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Groupe la Francaise raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 8.2% in the second quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 631 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 274 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC now owns 16,099 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,146,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Eukles Asset Management raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Eukles Asset Management now owns 12,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,458,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,293 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI set a $215.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday. Evercore upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $202.00 to $188.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $202.53.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $214.29 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $195.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.58 billion, a PE ratio of 23.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.64. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.07 and a 52-week high of $221.81.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The specialty retailer reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 53.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 767 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.16, for a total value of $157,357.72. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $2,715,497.76. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.39, for a total transaction of $7,258,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 806,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,267,708.43. This trade represents a 4.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 65,767 shares of company stock valued at $12,802,440 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.