BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $40.98 Million Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Financial Markets significantly increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 350.3% during the 1st quarter, owning approximately $40.98 million worth of shares as of the latest SEC filing.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Williams-Sonoma, with JP Morgan setting a target of $215.00 and several others rating it as a "Buy" or "Outperform," indicating strong market confidence.
• CEO Laura Alber and CFO Jeffrey Howie recently sold portions of their shares, with Alber's sale amounting to $5.04 million, signifying a decrease in their respective holdings.

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 350.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 259,224 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 201,660 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.21% of Williams-Sonoma worth $40,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 31.0% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 645,402 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $119,516,000 after purchasing an additional 24,741 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at about $85,075,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1,272.6% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 512,846 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $81,081,000 after purchasing an additional 475,484 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total value of $675,840.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at $5,810,196.48. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total value of $5,045,400.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Barclays set a $166.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $199.11.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:WSM traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $191.89. The company had a trading volume of 920,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,456,650. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The stock has a market cap of $23.60 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.52. The business's 50 day moving average price is $185.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.01.

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

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.04%.

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.