Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target Lowered to $215.00 at Telsey Advisory Group

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price target reduced by Telsey Advisory Group from $220.00 to $215.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

WSM has been the topic of several other research reports. Baird R W raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Williams-Sonoma from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $177.81.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $174.13 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $21.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. Williams-Sonoma has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The business’s 50 day moving average is $156.83 and its 200 day moving average is $175.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total transaction of $6,020,166.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. The trade was a 43.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total value of $4,973,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. The trade was a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 80,635 shares of company stock worth $13,236,175. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 99.0% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 199 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.