Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target Raised to $155.00

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price target upped by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $155.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 9.56% from the stock’s previous close.

WSM has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, September 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.22.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE WSM opened at $171.38 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $152.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.93. Williams-Sonoma has a one year low of $109.44 and a one year high of $172.37. The firm has a market cap of $11.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.55.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 16th. The specialty retailer reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.34 by $0.32. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 64.43% and a net margin of 11.68%. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma will post 13.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $15,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 565,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,875,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $15,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 565,835 shares in the company, valued at $84,875,250. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marta Benson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.68, for a total transaction of $1,406,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,238 shares in the company, valued at $7,630,201.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 130,000 shares of company stock worth $19,496,290. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,269,096 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $283,955,000 after purchasing an additional 15,078 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,456,161 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $226,287,000 after buying an additional 18,004 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,408,911 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $204,292,000 after buying an additional 273,424 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,142,272 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $142,944,000 after buying an additional 35,315 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 951,820 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $119,105,000 after buying an additional 9,994 shares during the last quarter. 99.76% of the stock is 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.