Vident Advisory LLC Acquires 3,042 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 55.2%, acquiring an additional 3,042 shares in the 1st quarter, bringing its total to 8,556 shares valued at approximately $1.35 million.
• Multiple institutional investors adjusted their stakes in Williams-Sonoma, with notable increases including 350.3% from BNP Paribas Financial Markets, resulting in the firm owning 259,224 shares valued at around $40.98 million.
• Williams-Sonoma recently reported an EPS of $2.00 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share.

Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 55.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,556 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 3,042 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 966,927 shares in the company, valued at $162,617,782.86. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the business'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 owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of WSM traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $202.34. 1,122,340 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,450,070. The company has a market cap of $24.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.52. The company's 50-day moving average price is $187.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.82. 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 announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 was Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is currently 29.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. KeyCorp lifted 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.