Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 34.2%, selling nearly 20,000 shares during the second quarter, leaving them with 38,189 shares valued at approximately $6.24 million.
• Other institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Jacobs Levy Equity Management, have significantly increased their stakes, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Williams-Sonoma recently announced a quarterly $0.66 dividend, with a 1.4% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 29.04%, while stock performance has shown recent gains of 4.7%.

Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 34.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,189 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 19,836 shares during the quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $6,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 21.8% during 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 buying an additional 2,797,562 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at about $85,075,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 740.4% in the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 591,690 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $96,664,000 after purchasing an additional 521,283 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1,272.6% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 38,589.3% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 451,891 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $71,444,000 after buying an additional 450,723 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.79, for a total value of $695,765.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,656.37. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.60, for a total transaction of $3,563,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 114,153 shares of company stock worth $22,901,008 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 4.7%

Shares of WSM opened at $190.01 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The stock has a market cap of $23.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50-day moving average of $197.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.61.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 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 business had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be 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 is Friday, October 17th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is currently 29.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group set a $200.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.11.

Williams-Sonoma 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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