Advisors Capital Management LLC Trims Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Advisors Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 235,929 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 3,919 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC owned about 0.19% of Williams-Sonoma worth $37,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Quarry LP increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 99.0% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 199 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WSM. Argus set a $212.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, UBS Group set a $200.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.11.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE WSM opened at $202.60 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $189.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.52. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 14.54%.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 EPS. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 29.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 966,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $162,617,782.86. This represents a 3.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $675,840.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 51,500 shares of company stock worth $9,284,240. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.