12,188 Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Purchased by WBI Investments LLC

WBI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,991,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4.1% during the second quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 59,980 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $9,799,000 after purchasing an additional 2,366 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 29.1% in the 2nd quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 6,835 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 88,607 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $14,476,000 after purchasing an additional 5,054 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,460,000. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,649 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.79, for a total value of $695,765.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,656.37. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,787,999.92. The trade was a 8.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 114,153 shares of company stock valued at $22,901,008. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on WSM. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.94.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $181.35 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.07 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The company has a market capitalization of $22.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $193.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.43.

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

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. 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 1.5%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 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.