Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target to $170.00

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price objective reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $195.00 to $170.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of WSM opened at $163.27 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The stock has a market capitalization 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $197.13 and a 200-day moving average of $172.32.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.30%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,360,384,000 after buying an additional 3,695,837 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,777,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $418,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,436 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% during the third 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, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,902,382 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $352,283,000 after purchasing an additional 249,389 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is 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.