Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Upgraded at Baird R W

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) was upgraded by analysts at Baird R W from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. 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 report on Thursday, March 20th. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of WSM opened at $145.01 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $186.85 and its 200 day moving average is $174.08. Williams-Sonoma has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The company has a market capitalization of $17.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total transaction of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. The trade was a 43.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total value of $4,973,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $168,826,041.72. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369 in the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after buying an additional 9,509 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $20,251,000 after acquiring an additional 5,337 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 527,740 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $97,875,000 after acquiring an additional 172,409 shares during the period. National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $58,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 132.0% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,905 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222 shares during the period. 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.