Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Stock Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average of $146.11

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $146.11 and traded as high as $156.45. Williams-Sonoma shares last traded at $154.35, with a volume of 1,055,693 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.17.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $146.55. The company has a market capitalization of $19.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.74.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,040,099. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 91,100 shares of company stock valued at $13,563,526. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 28.6% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 964,910 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $272,462,000 after acquiring an additional 214,669 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 823,692 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $232,613,000 after acquiring an additional 43,607 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 785,143 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $158,426,000 after purchasing an additional 72,843 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 37.5% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 704,919 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $223,833,000 after acquiring an additional 192,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 536.3% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 383,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $108,345,000 after purchasing an additional 323,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

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.