Evercore ISI Cuts Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target to $300.00

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its target price lowered by Evercore ISI from $315.00 to $300.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an in-line rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

WSM has been the subject of several other reports. Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, March 15th. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a hold rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Williams-Sonoma from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $248.06.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of WSM stock opened at $279.69 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma has a 12 month low of $109.44 and a 12 month high of $319.78. The company has a market cap of $17.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.70. The business’s 50 day moving average is $268.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.37.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.71%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total transaction of $685,732.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 48,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,185,328.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth $286,000. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.9% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 15,720 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,992,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 4.2% during the first quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 15,014 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,768,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 16.9% during the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 15,900 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the period. Finally, Occidental Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 25.9% in the first quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 8,390 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,664,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.