4,057 Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Purchased by North Dakota State Investment Board

North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 4,057 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $725,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 51.5% in the third quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 14,593 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,852,000 after purchasing an additional 4,961 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 30.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 997,414 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $194,947,000 after acquiring an additional 231,489 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 972,810 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $174,473,000 after acquiring an additional 89,779 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 39.5% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 282,503 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $55,215,000 after acquiring an additional 80,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 30.7% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,269,461 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $443,566,000 after acquiring an additional 532,995 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.61, for a total transaction of $3,452,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 938,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $161,998,627.64. This trade represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.45, for a total transaction of $267,410.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,433,306.10. This represents a 3.99% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,370 shares of company stock worth $16,720,823. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $180.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.49. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $147.39 and a 1-year high of $222.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $183.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.70.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The specialty retailer reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.41 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 51.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 29.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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 report on Monday, April 13th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.38.

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.