Brighton Jones LLC Increases Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,184 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,630,310 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,471,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,797,562 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,436,839 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $227,164,000 after purchasing an additional 365,718 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 31.0% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,076,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $170,267,000 after purchasing an additional 254,550 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 816,176 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $133,029,000 after purchasing an additional 60,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 740.4% in the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 591,690 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $96,664,000 after purchasing an additional 521,283 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $192.91 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.22, a PEG ratio of 3.05 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 50-day moving average is $195.04 and its 200 day moving average is $177.34.

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

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Argus set a $212.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. UBS Group set a $200.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.56.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.60, for a total value of $3,563,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,560 shares in the company, valued at $20,066,816. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total transaction of $626,942.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,138 shares in the company, valued at $6,787,999.92. This represents a 8.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 114,153 shares of company stock valued at $22,901,008 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.