Brokerages Set Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Target Price at $141.17

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $141.17.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WSM. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $137.50 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $148.81 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma has a twelve month low of $69.95 and a twelve month high of $174.26. The stock has a market cap of $19.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $141.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.60.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma will post 7.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.45, for a total value of $6,258,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,070,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,551,066.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 91,100 shares of company stock worth $13,563,526 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently 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.