Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Given New $175.00 Price Target at Wedbush

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its target price increased by equities researchers at Wedbush from $135.00 to $175.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Wedbush’s target price indicates a potential upside of 2.09% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on WSM. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM traded down $3.63 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $171.41. 1,672,574 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,960,644. The firm has a market cap of $21.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma has a 1 year low of $89.87 and a 1 year high of $181.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.55.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. This trade represents a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total value of $5,219,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 990,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,309,848.44. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126 in the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,360,384,000 after buying an additional 3,695,837 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $825,588,000 after buying an additional 2,777,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the third 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. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $326,931,000 after acquiring 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% during 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 purchasing an additional 792,068 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.