First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Purchases 6,032 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 124.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,873 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 6,032 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.1% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,016 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 482 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 583 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $757,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on WSM. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Argus set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.56.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM stock opened at $188.15 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $195.50 and its 200-day moving average is $176.37. The stock has a market cap of $22.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.70, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.55. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98.

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

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total value of $626,942.52. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,787,999.92. This represents a 8.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.60, for a total transaction of $3,563,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,066,816. This represents a 15.08% 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 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma 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.