Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $45.63 Million Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 78.0%, holding 288,591 shares worth approximately $45.63 million.
• Several hedge funds acquired new positions in Williams-Sonoma, with institutional investors and hedge funds owning 99.29% of the stock.
• Williams-Sonoma reported earnings per share of $2.00 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 78.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 288,591 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 126,479 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.23% of Williams-Sonoma worth $45,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $35,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WSM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $182.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $160.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. 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. Barclays set a $166.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $189.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,810,196.48. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,000 shares of company stock valued at $6,349,680 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 2.7%

NYSE:WSM opened at $192.61 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $182.75 and a 200-day moving average of $172.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.47.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.21. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 52.79%. The company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is currently 29.90%.

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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