36,559 Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Purchased by Magnetar Financial LLC

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC invested approximately $5.78 million in Williams-Sonoma, acquiring 36,559 shares during the 1st quarter, as reported in its recent 13F filing.
• Other major institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Charles Schwab Investment Management, have also significantly increased their positions in Williams-Sonoma, indicating strong institutional confidence.
• Williams-Sonoma reported $2.00 EPS for its latest quarter, surpassing forecasts and showcasing a 2.7% year-over-year revenue growth of $1.84 billion.

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 36,559 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $5,780,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 65.6% in the first quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 166,038 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $26,251,000 after buying an additional 65,769 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 16.8% in the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 14,916 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,358,000 after buying an additional 2,144 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 350.3% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 259,224 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $40,983,000 after buying an additional 201,660 shares during the last quarter. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth $4,119,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth $742,000. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $200.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $198.35.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total value 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 $5,810,196.48. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total transaction 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 $162,617,782.86. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $187.77. 1,611,765 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,542,294. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.52. The business's 50 day moving average price is $184.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.73.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.