Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Shares Purchased by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 82.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,151 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,136 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 99.0% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 199 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at $48,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.60, for a total value of $3,563,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,066,816. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,783,656.37. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 114,153 shares of company stock worth $22,901,008 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Gordon Haskett upgraded 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. Citigroup upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Argus set a $212.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.56.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 1.0%

WSM stock opened at $192.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $194.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.43. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The company has a market cap of $23.44 billion, a PE ratio of 21.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.55.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 14.54%.The firm had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend 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 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.