Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target Increased to $175.00 by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “in-line” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 3.23% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $153.28.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM traded up $9.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $180.85. The stock had a trading volume of 1,430,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,065,941. The business has a fifty day moving average of $152.28 and a 200 day moving average of $135.93. The firm has a market cap of $11.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.55. Williams-Sonoma has a 12 month low of $109.44 and a 12 month high of $181.46.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The specialty retailer reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.34 by $0.32. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 11.68% and a return on equity of 64.43%. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma will post 13.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 18,189 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.92, for a total transaction of $2,817,839.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 545,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,510,254.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 18,189 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.92, for a total value of $2,817,839.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 545,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,510,254.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marta Benson sold 10,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.68, for a total value of $1,406,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,630,201.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 130,000 shares of company stock worth $19,496,290. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

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