Loop Capital Raises Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target to $180.00

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its target price boosted by Loop Capital from $145.00 to $180.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

WSM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Royal Bank of Canada cut 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. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:WSM opened at $171.98 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $143.63 and its 200 day moving average is $144.82. Williams-Sonoma has a 12 month low of $90.31 and a 12 month high of $181.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. This represents a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126 over the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 19.7% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 7,281 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth approximately $286,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 374.8% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Hedge funds and other 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.