MBB Public Markets I LLC Acquires New Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc., purchasing 1,890 shares valued at approximately $299,000 in the first quarter.
• Insider transactions included EVP David Randolph King selling 17,500 shares for about $3.56 million, and CEO Laura Alber selling 30,000 shares for approximately $5.05 million.
• Williams-Sonoma recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.00, exceeding consensus estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share.

MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,890 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $299,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at $434,000. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at $1,337,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 6.0% in the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,109 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $808,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 496.7% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 14,321 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,264,000 after purchasing an additional 11,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scientech Research LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at $878,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,066,816. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 966,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $162,617,782.86. This represents a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 51,500 shares of company stock worth $9,284,240. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $203.41 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The company has a market cap of $24.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $190.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.82.

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 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. The firm'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, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their price objective 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. Zelman & Associates started coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set an "underperform" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.11.

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.

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