Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Shares Bought by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 208.8%, owning 8,909 shares valued at approximately $1.4 million post-acquisition.
• Several institutional investors have shown interest in Williams-Sonoma, with notable purchases including Redwood Investment Management LLC and Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd., indicating strong market confidence.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on the stock, with one strong buy and ten holds, while the consensus price target is currently set at $198.35.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 208.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,909 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 6,024 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth approximately $2,943,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 7,816 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,236,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 583 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 430 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Finally, Allstate Corp increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 4,899 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $775,000 after buying an additional 1,216 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on WSM. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. UBS Group set a $200.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Barclays set a $166.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $199.11.

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 transaction 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 approximately $162,617,782.86. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total transaction of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,810,196.48. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 5.7%

Shares of WSM stock traded up $10.92 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $203.05. 1,333,572 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,904,205. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $185.82 and a 200 day moving average of $172.01. The firm has a market cap of $24.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.52.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 54.47%. Williams-Sonoma's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

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

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.