Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Acquires 121,464 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 101.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 240,887 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 121,464 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $39,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 21.8% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth approximately $85,075,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 740.4% in 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 buying an additional 521,283 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1,272.6% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 512,846 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $81,081,000 after acquiring an additional 475,484 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 38,589.3% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 451,891 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $71,444,000 after purchasing an additional 450,723 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on WSM. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. 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. Argus set a $212.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price on the stock in a research 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 issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.39.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 876,927 shares in the company, valued at $175,534,477.59. This represents a 9.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $20,066,816. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 114,153 shares of company stock worth $22,901,008. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 2.8%

WSM stock opened at $186.48 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $194.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.65. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $128.81 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The stock has a market cap of $22.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.56.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 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 business had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

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