Forsta AP Fonden Has $9.54 Million Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Forsta AP Fonden grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 12.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,300 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $9,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Maseco LLP acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 99.0% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 199 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 7,675.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 311 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $186.48 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $194.74 and a 200-day moving average of $181.65. The company has a market capitalization of $22.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.56. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $128.81 and a 1 year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.21. The firm 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%. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total value of $626,942.52. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,787,999.92. The trade was a 8.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.17, for a total value of $18,015,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 876,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,534,477.59. The trade was a 9.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 114,153 shares of company stock valued at $22,901,008. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.39.

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.