Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target Raised to $145.00

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its target price increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $136.00 to $145.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

WSM has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wedbush downgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued 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 target price of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $171.88 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma has a 12 month low of $90.31 and a 12 month high of $181.42. The company has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $143.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.74.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.97%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of Williams-Sonoma 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The trade was a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,360,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,695,837 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $825,588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $418,223,000 after buying an additional 1,393,436 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $326,931,000 after buying an additional 1,145,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,036,256 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $160,537,000 after acquiring an additional 792,068 shares in the last quarter. 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.