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

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,289 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $2,471,152,000 after buying an additional 2,797,562 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 34.1% in the first 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 valued at $227,164,000 after acquiring an additional 365,718 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 31.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,076,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $170,267,000 after acquiring an additional 254,550 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 8.0% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 816,176 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $133,029,000 after acquiring an additional 60,163 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 740.4% during the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 591,690 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $96,664,000 after acquiring an additional 521,283 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.60, for a total value of $3,563,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,066,816. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.17, for a total value of $18,015,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 876,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,534,477.59. This represents a 9.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 114,153 shares of company stock valued at $22,901,008 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $194.03 on Wednesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98. The company has a market cap of $23.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.82.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results 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. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 14.54%.The firm had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WSM. UBS Group set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Argus set a $212.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.56.

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.