VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Purchases Shares of 104,700 Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 104,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $24,406,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 21,796.7% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 36,913,716 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $8,604,587,000 after acquiring an additional 36,745,135 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,656,062,000. Aristotle Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC now owns 11,140,471 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,031,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,009,032 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at about $316,920,000. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $254,778,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 522 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.39, for a total transaction of $128,615.58. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,195 shares in the company, valued at $4,975,846.05. The trade was a 2.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,634 shares of company stock worth $632,696. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $227.12 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.75 billion, a PE ratio of 23.25, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $232.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.92. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $165.51 and a twelve month high of $254.89.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The specialty retailer reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 53.48% and a net margin of 14.73%.Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Citigroup upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $275.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $270.00 price objective (up from $250.00) on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group set a $260.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.56.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.