Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target Cut to $208.00 by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price target lowered by Jefferies Financial Group from $226.00 to $208.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $163.27 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $197.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.32. The stock has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. 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 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.30%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,360,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,695,837 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $825,588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777,339 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $290,121,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $418,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,436 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $326,931,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145,410 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.