Park Avenue Securities LLC Acquires New Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. during the 2nd quarter, purchasing 6,946 shares valued at approximately $1,135,000.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Williams-Sonoma, with Citigroup setting a new target of $202.00 and several others indicating an average target price of $199.11.
• Insider transactions included CEO Laura Alber selling 90,000 shares for a total of approximately $18 million, representing a 9.31% decrease in her position.

Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 6,946 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,135,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WSM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,248,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth about $227,000. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 16,526 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $3,060,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 10,985 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,034,000 after purchasing an additional 4,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth about $13,707,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.17, for a total transaction of $18,015,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 876,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $175,534,477.59. This trade represents a 9.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.60, for a total value of $3,563,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,560 shares in the company, valued at $20,066,816. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,153 shares of company stock worth $28,622,248 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.2%

WSM stock opened at $201.58 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The stock has a market cap of $24.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.18, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.52. The business's 50-day moving average price is $196.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $172.63.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.04%.

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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