Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Rating Increased to Neutral at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) was upgraded by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $275.00 price target on the specialty retailer’s stock, up from their previous price target of $245.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price points to a potential downside of 9.75% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $270.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $256.19.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 4.3 %

WSM opened at $304.70 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma has a 1-year low of $109.44 and a 1-year high of $319.78. The company has a market cap of $19.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.72. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $281.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $222.62.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. The firm’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $5,490,713.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total value of $5,490,713.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $152,843,000. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 4,101.0% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 138,004 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,846,000 after purchasing an additional 134,719 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth $40,060,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 638.3% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 142,402 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $22,129,000 after buying an additional 123,114 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 39.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 386,861 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $60,118,000 after buying an additional 109,533 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.