Wellington Management Group LLP Purchases Shares of 8,877 Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP acquired 8,877 shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. in Q1 2023, valued at approximately $1.4 million, highlighting continued interest from institutional investors in the company.
• Several Wall Street analysts have raised their price targets for Williams-Sonoma, with KeyCorp increasing theirs to $230.00 and a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average target price of $198.35.
• Insider sales were noted, including CFO Jeffrey Howie selling 4,000 shares and CEO Laura Alber selling 30,000 shares, indicating some reduction in their personal stakes in the company.

Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,877 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,403,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 valued at about $32,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group set a $200.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $198.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total value of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at $5,810,196.48. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 966,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $162,617,782.86. This trade represents a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $187.77 on Monday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The company has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a 50 day moving average of $183.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.92.

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. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 14.54%.The company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio 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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