Modern Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 63.1%, acquiring a total of 8,283 shares valued at approximately $1.31 million.
• Insider sales included CFO Jeffrey Howie selling 4,000 shares for about $675,840, and EVP David Randolph King selling 17,500 shares for approximately $3.56 million.
• Williams-Sonoma reported better-than-expected earnings of $2.00 per share for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate by $0.21, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.66.

Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 63.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,283 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 3,206 shares during the quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Redwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,424,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at approximately $895,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 26.4% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 44,398 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $7,019,000 after acquiring an additional 9,266 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 10.6% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,402 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,751,000 after acquiring an additional 1,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 128.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 217,644 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $34,410,000 after acquiring an additional 122,180 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total value of $675,840.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at $5,810,196.48. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.60, for a total transaction of $3,563,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,066,816. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,500 shares of company stock worth $9,284,240 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on WSM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Argus set a $212.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Two 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.11.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $197.30 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.52. The company's 50 day moving average price is $190.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $171.64. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 54.47%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.74 earnings per share. 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.