Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Increases Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 6.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 88,607 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,054 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $14,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,797,562 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth $85,075,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 521,283 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 475,484 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 450,723 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.79, for a total value of $695,765.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,656.37. This trade represents a 20.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 876,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $175,534,477.59. This trade represents a 9.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 114,153 shares of company stock valued at $22,901,008 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 3.4%

NYSE:WSM opened at $174.62 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $21.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.56. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $192.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.51. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.07 and a 52 week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The specialty retailer reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 54.47%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $199.94.

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.