Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) PT Lowered to $300.00

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price target lowered by research analysts at 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. Evercore ISI’s price target suggests a potential upside of 4.92% from the company’s current price.

WSM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com cut Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $263.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $248.06.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE WSM traded down $2.61 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $285.92. 174,165 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,028,934. The firm has a market cap of $18.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $263.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $210.51. Williams-Sonoma has a 12-month low of $109.44 and a 12-month high of $319.78.

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

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 68,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of Williams-Sonoma 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 owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total value of $5,490,713.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WSM. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 7.9% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 46,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,915,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 14,762 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,140,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,118 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $56,712,000 after buying an additional 1,049 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1,415.9% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,092 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 1,954 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at $292,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.