Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Given New $290.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $270.00 to $290.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

WSM has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a sell rating to a neutral rating and raised their target price for the company from $154.00 to $263.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an outperform rating and set a $340.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $259.94.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.1 %

WSM opened at $287.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $18.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $300.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.46. Williams-Sonoma has a 12-month low of $109.44 and a 12-month high of $348.51.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 13.83% and a return on equity of 54.50%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.50 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma will post 15.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th were given a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 27.75%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total transaction of $685,732.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 48,364 shares in the company, valued at $15,185,328.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,145 shares of company stock valued at $18,552,819 in the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WSM. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 129.3% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $33,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently 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.