Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Shares Gap Down to $150.08

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $150.08, but opened at $146.06. Williams-Sonoma shares last traded at $147.11, with a volume of 101,082 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Barclays lowered their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.17.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $19.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.74. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $141.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.42.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.98 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,040,099. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 91,100 shares of company stock worth $13,563,526. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,791 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 61,812 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $12,472,000 after buying an additional 10,460 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at about $275,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 61.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 94,777 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $19,124,000 after buying an additional 35,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,186 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,652,000 after purchasing an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

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.