Select Equity Group L.P. Has $44.98 Million Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• Select Equity Group L.P. reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 4.1%, now owning approximately 0.23% of the company, worth about $44.98 million.
• Williams-Sonoma reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.00, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.79, and showed revenue growth of 2.7% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66, representing an annualized rate of $2.64 and a yield of 1.3%.

Select Equity Group L.P. lessened its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 284,524 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 12,198 shares during the quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. owned approximately 0.23% of Williams-Sonoma worth $44,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WSM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,630,310 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,471,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,797,562 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth approximately $85,075,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1,272.6% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 512,846 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $81,081,000 after acquiring an additional 475,484 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 38,589.3% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 451,891 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $71,444,000 after acquiring an additional 450,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 16,087.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 264,343 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $41,793,000 after acquiring an additional 262,710 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on WSM. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock 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 note on Thursday, August 28th. Barclays set a $166.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued 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.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.11.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

WSM traded down $0.59 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $202.67. 687,211 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,459,014. The stock has a market cap of $24.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.52. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $188.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.54.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 54.47%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period 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 predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is presently 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.