Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Shares Down 2.1% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) were down 2.1% on Wednesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $315.00 to $300.00. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the stock. Williams-Sonoma traded as low as $279.18 and last traded at $282.55. Approximately 1,231,111 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 45% from the average daily volume of 849,937 shares. The stock had previously closed at $288.53.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on WSM. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $155.00 to $270.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $248.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $5,490,713.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,597 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,140,909.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $5,490,713.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,597 shares in the company, valued at $21,140,909.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at $220,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter valued at $4,102,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 11.5% in the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 20,711 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,128 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at $3,632,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,456,161 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $226,287,000 after purchasing an additional 18,004 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $18.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.70. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $265.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.40.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.50 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 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 $1.13 dividend. 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 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is 24.71%.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

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.