AQR Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 18% in the first quarter, owning 446,704 shares valued at approximately $69.46 million.
• Analysts have upgraded their target prices for Williams-Sonoma, with JPMorgan raising their target from $168 to $215, and a consensus average target price of $199.11.
• Williams-Sonoma reported strong quarterly earnings with a net margin of 14.54%, reporting $2.00 earnings per share, surpassing expectations of $1.79.

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 18.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 446,704 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 68,211 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.36% of Williams-Sonoma worth $69,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Quarry LP grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 99.0% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 199 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $35,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on WSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Zelman & Associates started coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set an "underperform" rating for the company. Argus set a $212.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.11.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 0.5%

Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $1.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $203.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,193,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,452,405. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The company has a market cap of $24.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $188.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $171.33.

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

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total transaction of $5,045,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 966,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $162,617,782.86. This represents a 3.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,810,196.48. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.