Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Stock Price

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $165.00 to $185.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.03.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

WSM opened at $194.53 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.79. Williams-Sonoma has a 52-week low of $95.76 and a 52-week high of $200.56.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.98%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total transaction of $5,219,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 990,956 shares in the company, valued at $129,309,848.44. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total transaction of $560,552.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $8,228,767.32. This represents a 6.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WSM. FMR LLC raised 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 valued at $1,360,384,000 after acquiring an additional 3,695,837 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $825,588,000 after buying an additional 2,777,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $418,223,000 after buying an additional 1,393,436 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $326,931,000 after buying an additional 1,145,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $160,537,000 after acquiring an additional 792,068 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

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.