Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Sets New 52-Week High at $348.51

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $348.51 and last traded at $337.42, with a volume of 292159 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $314.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $154.00 to $263.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $258.38.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 11.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $17.97 billion, a PE ratio of 19.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.72. The firm's 50 day moving average is $299.95 and its 200-day moving average is $236.95.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.53, for a total transaction of $6,370,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 555,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at $176,959,341.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 555,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at $176,959,341.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,145 shares of company stock valued at $18,552,819 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth $45,000. 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.