Maseco LLP Buys New Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Maseco LLP acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 158 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 21.8% during the first 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. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in 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. raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 31.0% during the first 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. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth $85,075,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1,272.6% during the first 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 period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total value of $626,942.52. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,787,999.92. This represents a 8.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 transaction of $18,015,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 876,927 shares in the company, valued at $175,534,477.59. The trade was a 9.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 144,653 shares of company stock valued at $27,926,483. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of WSM opened at $201.44 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $195.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.52.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on WSM. Argus set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.11.

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.