KBC Group NV Sells 112,821 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

KBC Group NV cut its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 43.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 148,715 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 112,821 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $27,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at $227,000. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth $1,644,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 4,153 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 5.9% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,631 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $757,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective (up from $220.00) on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Evercore set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Citigroup cut their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $208.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $185.00 to $218.00 in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $192.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.65.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $221.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.04 billion, a PE ratio of 24.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $212.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $201.94. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $165.51 and a twelve month high of $244.65.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 53.29% and a net margin of 13.81%.The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.85 EPS. Analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 938,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,998,627.64. The trade was a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 1,112 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total value of $254,080.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 21,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,962,117.33. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 36,634 shares of company stock worth $6,812,283 over 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.