MetLife Investment Management LLC Trims Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 52.9% in the first quarter, owning 35,089 shares valued at approximately $5.5 million after selling 39,373 shares.
• Insiders, including CEO Laura Alber and CFO Jeffrey Howie, sold a total of 38,000 shares worth around $6.35 million over the last 90 days, indicating a decrease in their ownership.
• Williams-Sonoma recently posted quarterly earnings of $2.00 per share, exceeding expectations, with revenues up 2.7% year-over-year, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share.

MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 52.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,089 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 39,373 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $5,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WSM. Hemington Wealth Management increased its position 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 increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 5.5% during the first quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 13.0% during the first quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 583 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.5% during the first quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $757,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Bank & Trust increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% during the first quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 1,463 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Zelman & Associates assumed coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set an "underperform" rating for the company. Gordon Haskett upgraded 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. 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $198.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 966,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $162,617,782.86. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,000 shares of company stock worth $6,349,680 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $187.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,611,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,542,294. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $183.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $171.92. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.52.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. 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.