Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Takes $517,000 Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,219 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $517,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WSM. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at about $2,656,062,000. Aristotle Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 22.0% during the first quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC now owns 11,140,471 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,031,242,000 after acquiring an additional 2,009,032 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth about $316,920,000. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter worth about $254,778,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $188,603,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the topic of several research reports. Argus set a $230.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, May 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $192.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $261.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $225.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.88.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 522 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.39, for a total transaction of $128,615.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,975,846.05. This trade represents a 2.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $3,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 923,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $184,704,800. The trade was a 1.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,156 shares of company stock worth $3,738,699. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of WSM stock opened at $242.34 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $231.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $207.33. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $165.51 and a 12 month high of $254.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.14, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.50.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 53.29% and a net margin of 13.81%.The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.85 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, July 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.04%.

About Williams-Sonoma

Williams‑Sonoma, Inc is a specialty retailer focused on the home and culinary markets, best known for premium cookware, kitchen tools and home furnishings. The company traces its roots to a single cookware store founded by Chuck Williams in 1956 in Sonoma, California, and has evolved into a multi‑brand home furnishings and housewares business. Its merchandise mix spans cookware and kitchen electrics, tabletop and food prep items, furniture, bedding, lighting and decorative accessories designed for both everyday use and higher‑end interiors.

The company operates a portfolio of consumer brands that target distinct segments of the home market.