First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Buys 6,032 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. has significantly increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 124.6% during the second quarter, bringing its total shares owned to 10,873, valued at approximately $1.78 million.
• Institutional investors now own 99.29% of Williams-Sonoma's stock, highlighting strong institutional interest and confidence in the company.
• Analysts have set a consensus target price for Williams-Sonoma shares at $198.56, with a mix of ratings including two "Strong Buy" and eight "Buy" ratings.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 124.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,873 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 6,032 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,856 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 153.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 12,279 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 7,439 shares during the last quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 24.3% in the 2nd quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 15,540 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,539,000 after purchasing an additional 3,035 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 20,344 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $3,339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Evercore ISI lowered their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $198.56.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 98,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,066,816. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.17, for a total value of $18,015,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 876,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,534,477.59. This trade represents a 9.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 114,153 shares of company stock worth $22,901,008 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of WSM stock opened at $188.15 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $195.50 and a 200-day moving average of $176.37.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 54.47%. The company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is 29.04%.

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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