Mutual Advisors LLC Takes $211,000 Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Mutual Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,289 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at approximately $895,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 26.4% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 44,398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,019,000 after buying an additional 9,266 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 128.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 217,644 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $34,410,000 after buying an additional 122,180 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 10.6% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,402 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after buying an additional 1,673 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 26.2% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 14,197 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,245,000 after buying an additional 2,945 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.56.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.79, for a total transaction of $695,765.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,783,656.37. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total transaction of $626,942.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,138 shares in the company, valued at $6,787,999.92. This trade represents a 8.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 114,153 shares of company stock valued at $22,901,008 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE WSM opened at $191.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.55. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $196.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $175.99.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 54.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 29.04%.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.