Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Shares Sold by Meritage Portfolio Management

Key Points

• Meritage Portfolio Management decreased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 6.0%, owning 95,119 shares valued at approximately $15.54 million.
• Williams-Sonoma reported $2.00 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and demonstrating a 2.7% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.5%.

Meritage Portfolio Management reduced its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,119 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 6,123 shares during the period. Williams-Sonoma makes up approximately 1.0% of Meritage Portfolio Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Meritage Portfolio Management owned 0.08% of Williams-Sonoma worth $15,540,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at $895,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 26.4% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 44,398 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $7,019,000 after purchasing an additional 9,266 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 128.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 217,644 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $34,410,000 after purchasing an additional 122,180 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 10.6% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,402 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 26.2% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 14,197 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 2,945 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WSM. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Argus set a $212.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.11.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $181.42 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $198.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.32. The company has a market cap of $22.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.55. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts forecast 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 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 1.5%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is currently 29.04%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,787,999.92. The trade was a 8.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.17, for a total transaction of $18,015,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 144,153 shares of company stock worth $27,946,408 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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