Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target Lowered to $140.00 at Robert W. Baird

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price target cut by Robert W. Baird from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on WSM. Needham & Company LLC restated a hold rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $137.50 to $155.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Monday, August 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $134.90.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE:WSM opened at $139.57 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma has a 52-week low of $69.02 and a 52-week high of $174.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $146.15 and its 200 day moving average is $141.80. The firm has a market cap of $17.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.75.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.10. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 13.83%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma will post 7.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 27.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.45, for a total transaction of $6,258,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,070,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,551,066.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Monica Bhargava sold 17,862 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.14, for a total value of $2,663,938.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.45, for a total value of $6,258,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,070,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,551,066.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 99.29% 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.