Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $172.28, but opened at $157.80. Williams-Sonoma shares last traded at $154.22, with a volume of 1,143,900 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. 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. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have 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.com, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.28.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $19.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $198.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.92.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.98%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $273,602.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their position. 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 and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 186.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,536 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 4,901 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 97.1% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $955,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 9,509 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 27.2% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 38,512 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,966,000 after purchasing an additional 8,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,641,000 after purchasing an additional 12,061 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.