Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Has $39.35 Million Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 101.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 240,887 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 121,464 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned about 0.20% of Williams-Sonoma worth $39,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,797,562 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 34.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,436,839 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $227,164,000 after acquiring an additional 365,718 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 31.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,076,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $170,267,000 after purchasing an additional 254,550 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 8.0% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 816,176 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $133,029,000 after purchasing an additional 60,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 740.4% during the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 591,690 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $96,664,000 after purchasing an additional 521,283 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 876,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $175,534,477.59. This trade represents a 9.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.60, for a total value of $3,563,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,066,816. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 114,153 shares of company stock worth $22,901,008 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp boosted their price target 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 restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. UBS Group set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight 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, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.39.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM opened at $186.48 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.56. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.81 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $194.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.65.

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. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 54.47%. The firm had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. 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.