VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Invests $20.50 Million in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems invested approximately $20.5 million in Williams-Sonoma, acquiring 125,500 shares in the second quarter, which marks their ownership at 0.10% of the company.
• Williams-Sonoma's CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares for over $18 million, indicating a significant reduction in her ownership by 9.31%.
• Recent analyst reports have updated the price target for Williams-Sonoma, with Citigroup raising it from $162 to $202 and others also showing positive ratings, indicating a moderate buy sentiment on the stock.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 125,500 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $20,503,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned 0.10% of Williams-Sonoma at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,016 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 482 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. TFB Advisors LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 583 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Graypoint LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $757,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.17, for a total value of $18,015,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 876,927 shares in the company, valued at $175,534,477.59. The trade was a 9.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.79, for a total transaction of $695,765.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,783,656.37. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 114,153 shares of company stock valued at $22,901,008. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WSM. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 lifted 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. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $198.56.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $185.65 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.55. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $196.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.55.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during 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 business'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 company earned $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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is currently 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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