Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Stock Price

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its target price dropped by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $195.00 to $170.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 4.12% from the company’s current price.

WSM has been the subject of several other reports. Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wedbush cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of WSM stock opened at $163.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $197.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.03. Williams-Sonoma has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 27.2% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 38,512 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,966,000 after purchasing an additional 8,237 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,641,000 after purchasing an additional 12,061 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $326,931,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 92.5% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 44,130 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,837,000 after purchasing an additional 21,200 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.