QRG Capital Management Inc. Purchases 462 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,447 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WSM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 21.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,797,562 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at $85,075,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake 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 valued at $96,664,000 after acquiring an additional 521,283 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1,272.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 38,589.3% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 451,891 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $71,444,000 after acquiring an additional 450,723 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WSM. UBS Group set a $200.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Argus set a $212.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Two equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.11.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 3.5%

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $189.19 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $198.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.93. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The company has a market cap of $23.04 billion, a PE ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.55.

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, sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.66 per share. 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 presently 29.04%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.17, for a total transaction of $18,015,300.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total transaction of $626,942.52. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,138 shares in the company, valued at $6,787,999.92. The trade was a 8.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 144,153 shares of company stock valued at $27,946,408. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.