Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Shares Down 0.9%

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) was down 0.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $315.74 and last traded at $317.50. Approximately 101,115 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 970,329 shares. The stock had previously closed at $320.24.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $270.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com cut Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, March 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $258.38.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 1.1 %

The company has a market cap of $19.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.72. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $296.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.19.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued 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 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.02%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, 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 value of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $5,674,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 61,145 shares of company stock worth $18,552,819. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WSM. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew 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 worth $226,287,000 after purchasing an additional 18,004 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 970,737 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 23,918 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 2.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 785,457 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $249,406,000 after purchasing an additional 18,358 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 785,143 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $158,426,000 after acquiring an additional 72,843 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $152,843,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.