Vanguard Group Inc. Has $2.55 Billion Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,599,169 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 31,141 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.68% of Williams-Sonoma worth $2,548,436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 34.1% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 365,718 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 31.0% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,076,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $170,267,000 after purchasing an additional 254,550 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 8.0% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 816,176 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $133,029,000 after buying an additional 60,163 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 521,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth $85,075,000. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WSM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Evercore ISI dropped 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 report on Tuesday, October 14th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group set a $175.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.41.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE:WSM opened at $172.68 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $192.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.45. The firm has a market cap of $21.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.00, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.56. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $130.07 and a one year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The specialty retailer reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 14.54%.The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. The company’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, equities research analysts predict 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 given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.04%.

Insider Activity

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

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.