16,731 Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Bought by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquired 16,731 shares of Williams-Sonoma, valued at approximately $2.645 million, indicating institutional confidence in the retailer.
• CEO Laura Alber recently sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock for nearly $4.93 million, although she still holds a substantial stake in the company.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Williams-Sonoma with an average price target of $180.18 and several institutions adjusting their holdings significantly in the first quarter.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 16,731 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $2,645,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,630,310 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,471,152,000 after buying an additional 2,797,562 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth $85,075,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1,272.6% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 512,846 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $81,081,000 after acquiring an additional 475,484 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 16,087.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 264,343 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $41,793,000 after acquiring an additional 262,710 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 31.0% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,076,959 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $170,267,000 after acquiring an additional 254,550 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WSM shares. Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Barclays set a $166.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $180.18.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.33, for a total value of $4,929,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 996,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $163,825,013.91. This trade represents a 2.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total value of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at $5,810,196.48. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 68,000 shares of company stock worth $11,279,580 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $202.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.83. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 52.79% and a net margin of 14.35%.The company's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.48 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.90%.

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.

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