Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Shares Acquired by Shell Asset Management Co.

Key Points

• Shell Asset Management Co. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 27% in the second quarter, acquiring an additional 3,302 shares, bringing their total holdings to 15,546 shares valued at approximately $2.54 million.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Williams-Sonoma, with estimates ranging from $190.00 to $230.00, reflecting optimism in the stock's performance.
• Williams-Sonoma announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, to be paid on November 21st, 2023, highlighting a 1.4% dividend yield based on its current stock value.

Shell Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 27.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,546 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 3,302 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WSM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,630,310 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,471,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,797,562 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth about $85,075,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 740.4% in the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 591,690 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $96,664,000 after buying an additional 521,283 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1,272.6% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 512,846 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $81,081,000 after buying an additional 475,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 38,589.3% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 451,891 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $71,444,000 after buying an additional 450,723 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.11.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.17, for a total transaction of $18,015,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 876,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $175,534,477.59. This represents a 9.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total transaction of $626,942.52. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,787,999.92. This represents a 8.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 144,153 shares of company stock worth $27,946,408. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE WSM opened at $191.02 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $198.11 and a 200-day moving average of $174.05. The company has a market cap of $23.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.55.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.21. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 54.47%. The company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. The company'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, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.04%.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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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