Swedbank AB Buys New Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 18,740 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,062,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 2.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 15.3% during the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 482 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 5.5% during the first quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 13.0% during the first quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 583 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.5% during the first quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $757,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM stock opened at $198.08 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $193.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.89. The company has a market capitalization of $24.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.52. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.21. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 54.47%. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 29.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Argus set a $212.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.60, for a total transaction of $3,563,000.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total transaction of $626,942.52. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,787,999.92. This represents a 8.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 144,653 shares of company stock valued at $27,926,483. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.