Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Has $8.77 Million Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,673 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,308 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $8,769,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 124.6% during the second quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 10,873 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 6,032 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 14.4% in the second quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,856 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 153.7% in the second quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 12,279 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after buying an additional 7,439 shares during the period. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 24.3% in the second quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 15,540 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,539,000 after buying an additional 3,035 shares during the period. Finally, TFB Advisors LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 22.5% in the second quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on WSM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Argus set a $212.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.79, for a total transaction of $695,765.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,783,656.37. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total value 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 represents a 8.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 114,153 shares of company stock worth $22,901,008. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $192.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $23.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.55. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The business’s 50 day moving average is $195.04 and its 200-day moving average is $177.34.

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

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be given 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 yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.04%.

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.