Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target Lowered to $185.00 at Morgan Stanley

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price target cut by Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $185.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on WSM. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $163.27 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $197.13 and a 200 day moving average of $172.32. The stock has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.44 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,014,116.16. This represents a 2.95 % 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 company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 38,512 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,966,000 after purchasing an additional 8,237 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,641,000 after purchasing an additional 12,061 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted 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 valued at $326,931,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 92.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 44,130 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,837,000 after purchasing an additional 21,200 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.