IFM Investors Pty Ltd Sells 753 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

IFM Investors Pty Ltd cut its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,310 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 753 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $3,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth $1,424,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at about $895,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 26.4% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 44,398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,019,000 after buying an additional 9,266 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 10.6% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,402 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 128.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 217,644 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $34,410,000 after buying an additional 122,180 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target 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. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Zelman & Associates initiated coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.11.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $203.41 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $190.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $171.82.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 54.47%. The firm’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 company earned $1.74 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 29.04%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total transaction of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,810,196.48. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,066,816. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,500 shares of company stock valued at $9,284,240. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.