Norges Bank Invests $212.11 Million in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,298,321 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $212,107,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,973 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,714,000 after purchasing an additional 1,442 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 370,815 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $60,590,000 after buying an additional 26,767 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,350 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 132.4% during the second quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 4,739 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $774,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 128,398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $20,976,000 after buying an additional 1,430 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.4%

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $182.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $189.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $183.42. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.07 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.56.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The specialty retailer reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 14.54%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company 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 year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.60, for a total transaction of $3,563,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,560 shares in the company, valued at $20,066,816. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.17, for a total transaction of $18,015,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 876,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,534,477.59. The trade was a 9.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 144,153 shares of company stock worth $28,287,440 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.00.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.