Brokerages Set Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Target Price at $178.93

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eighteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $178.93.

Several research analysts have recently commented on WSM shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $1,212,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares in the company, valued at $2,501,002.65. The trade was a 32.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 120,720 shares of company stock worth $21,828,609 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 6.5 %

Shares of WSM stock opened at $148.01 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $180.43 and its 200 day moving average is $173.67. Williams-Sonoma 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 results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.30%.

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.