Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Share Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average of $261.15

Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $261.15 and traded as high as $280.75. Williams-Sonoma shares last traded at $279.54, with a volume of 1,266,828 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wedbush raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Bank of America increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $262.13.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $17.98 billion, a PE ratio of 17.16, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.75. The business’s 50-day moving average is $298.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $261.15.

Williams-Sonoma’s stock is scheduled to split before the market opens on Tuesday, July 9th. The 2-1 split was announced on Tuesday, July 9th. The newly minted shares will be issued to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, July 9th.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $4.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $1.29. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 13.83% and a return on equity of 54.50%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. On average, analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 16.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.53, for a total transaction of $6,370,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 555,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $176,959,341.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.53, for a total value of $6,370,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 555,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $176,959,341.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was 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 directly owns 68,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,747 shares of company stock worth $17,403,752 in the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WSM. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $45,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.