Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM – Get Free Report)’s stock price traded down 2.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $315.00 to $300.00. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the stock. Williams-Sonoma traded as low as $279.18 and last traded at $282.55. 1,231,111 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 45% from the average session volume of 849,937 shares. The stock had previously closed at $288.53.
A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley raised Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $270.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $248.06.
Read Our Latest Analysis on WSM
Insider Buying and Selling
Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma
Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at about $152,843,000. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at about $56,497,000. Steadfast Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at about $50,715,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 24.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,408,911 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $204,292,000 after acquiring an additional 273,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at about $29,782,000. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.
Williams-Sonoma Price Performance
The company has a 50-day moving average price of $266.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.70.
Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.
Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.13 dividend. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 24.71%.
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.
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