Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Shares Bought by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,109 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 3,690 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WSM. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 2.1% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,016 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $493,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 482 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. TFB Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 583 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $757,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WSM. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. UBS Group set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Argus set a $212.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.39.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.79, for a total transaction of $695,765.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,783,656.37. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 34,138 shares in the company, valued at $6,787,999.92. This trade represents a 8.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 114,153 shares of company stock valued at $22,901,008 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 1.7%

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $191.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $195.08 and a 200-day moving average of $181.54. The stock has a market cap of $23.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.56. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $128.37 and a 52 week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.04%.

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.