Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Buys New Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma, valued at approximately $3.16 million, indicating increased institutional interest in the stock.
• The stock has received positive analyst ratings, with a consensus target price of $199.11 and the majority of analysts recommending a "Moderate Buy."
• Williams-Sonoma reported strong quarterly earnings, with $2.00 EPS surpassing analyst estimates, and has set its FY 2025 guidance, reflecting confidence in future performance.

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 20,000 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $3,162,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $200.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Barclays set a $166.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.11.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.0%

WSM stock opened at $202.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.67 billion, a PE ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.52. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The stock's 50 day moving average is $189.46 and its 200-day moving average is $171.76.

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 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 business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. Williams-Sonoma's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors 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 (DPR) is presently 29.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 966,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $162,617,782.86. This represents a 3.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total transaction of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 51,500 shares of company stock worth $9,284,240. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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