Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target Raised to $290.00

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its target price lifted by Morgan Stanley from $270.00 to $290.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and increased their price target for the company from $245.00 to $275.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a hold rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $259.94.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $287.81 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma has a one year low of $109.44 and a one year high of $348.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.49 billion, a PE ratio of 17.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.72. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $300.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.84.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 13.83% and a return on equity of 54.50%. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.50 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 15.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th were given a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total value of $685,732.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,185,328.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total value of $685,732.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,185,328.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.53, for a total value of $6,370,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 555,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $176,959,341.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 61,145 shares of company stock worth $18,552,819. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 26.5% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,864 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,621,000 after acquiring an additional 4,268 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 51,352 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $7,980,000 after acquiring an additional 3,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 7.4% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.