AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Makes New $1.08 Million Investment in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs recently acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma worth approximately $1.08 million, purchasing 6,685 shares in the first quarter.
• In Q1, several other institutional investors notably increased their stakes, with Pacer Advisors boosting their holdings by an astonishing 1,272.6%.
• Williams-Sonoma reported earnings that surpassed expectations, with an EPS of $2.00 for the quarter, and a quarterly revenue of $1.84 billion, indicating a year-over-year growth of 2.7%.

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,685 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,081,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WSM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 21.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,797,562 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 34.1% during the first 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 holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 31.0% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at about $85,075,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1,272.6% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 512,846 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $81,081,000 after purchasing an additional 475,484 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total transaction of $675,840.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $3,563,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,066,816. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 51,500 shares of company stock worth $9,284,240 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $197.30 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $190.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $171.50. The company has a market cap of $24.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.52. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.21. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 14.54%.The company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is 29.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Citigroup increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Barclays set a $166.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Two investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.11.

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.

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