Panagora Asset Management Inc. Acquires 34,389 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. significantly increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 115.8%, now owning 64,090 shares valued at approximately $10.1 million.
• Williams-Sonoma reported a quarterly EPS of $2.00, exceeding analysts' expectations, and posted a year-over-year revenue growth of 2.7%.
• The firm recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.4%.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 115.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 64,090 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 34,389 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned 0.05% of Williams-Sonoma worth $10,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 15.3% during the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 482 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 583 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $757,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% in the first quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 1,463 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Argus set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $199.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total transaction of $675,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,810,196.48. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total transaction of $5,045,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 966,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $162,617,782.86. This 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 corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE WSM traded down $0.07 on Wednesday, hitting $191.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 920,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,456,650. The company's 50-day moving average is $185.82 and its 200 day moving average is $172.01. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The firm has a market cap of $23.60 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.52.

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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend 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.