Alamar Capital Management LLC Trims Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• Alamar Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 26.9%, selling 5,125 shares and lowering its stake to 13,917 shares valued at $2.2 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their stakes in Williams-Sonoma, with 99.29% of the stock now owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Williams-Sonoma reported a better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $2.00 EPS, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.79, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share.

Alamar Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 26.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,917 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 5,125 shares during the period. Alamar Capital Management LLC's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 2,797,562 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 31.0% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,076,959 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $170,267,000 after acquiring an additional 254,550 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 645,402 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $119,516,000 after buying an additional 24,741 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at approximately $85,075,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1,272.6% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 512,846 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $81,081,000 after buying an additional 475,484 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE WSM traded up $10.92 on Thursday, hitting $203.05. 1,333,572 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,904,205. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $186.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.52. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 54.47%. Williams-Sonoma's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is presently 29.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have 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 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective 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. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. One analyst has 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $199.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 966,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $162,617,782.86. This trade represents a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the business'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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.