Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Upgraded at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) from an underweight rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $275.00 price target on the specialty retailer’s stock, up from their previous price target of $245.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on WSM. UBS Group upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $256.19.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 4.3 %

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $304.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $281.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $223.06. Williams-Sonoma has a 1-year low of $109.44 and a 1-year high of $319.78.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 31.02%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total value of $685,732.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,185,328.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was 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 directly owns 48,364 shares in the company, valued at $15,185,328.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter worth about $275,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $153,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 11.7% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,270 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after buying an additional 761 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 8.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 119,670 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $18,597,000 after acquiring an additional 9,239 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

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.