Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Shares Bought by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 92.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,874 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,196 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,797,562 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $85,075,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 740.4% during the 2nd 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. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1,272.6% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 512,846 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $81,081,000 after buying an additional 475,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 38,589.3% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 451,891 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $71,444,000 after buying an additional 450,723 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of WSM stock opened at $186.48 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.81 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The stock has a market cap of $22.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.65.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is currently 29.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.60, for a total transaction of $3,563,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,560 shares in the company, valued at $20,066,816. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.79, for a total value of $695,765.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,656.37. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 114,153 shares of company stock valued at $22,901,008. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.39.

Williams-Sonoma 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.