Jefferies Financial Group Has Lowered Expectations for Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Stock Price

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its target price lowered by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $226.00 to $208.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 25.29% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wedbush reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.06.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.2 %

WSM traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $166.01. 1,430,049 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,580,492. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $198.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.88. Williams-Sonoma has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The company has a market cap of $20.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma 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 trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma 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 trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the 3rd 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 period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 38,512 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,966,000 after buying an additional 8,237 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,641,000 after buying an additional 12,061 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $326,931,000 after buying an additional 1,145,410 shares during the period. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 92.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 44,130 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,837,000 after buying an additional 21,200 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is 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.