Telsey Advisory Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Stock

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price target lifted by research analysts at Telsey Advisory Group from $165.00 to $190.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Telsey Advisory Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 8.55% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on WSM. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Citigroup cut their price objective 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. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE:WSM opened at $175.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $22.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.76. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.55. Williams-Sonoma has a 1-year low of $88.63 and a 1-year high of $181.42.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 EPS. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The trade was a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 91,100 shares of company stock valued at $12,525,126 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WSM. FMR LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,360,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,695,837 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $825,588,000 after acquiring an additional 2,777,339 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $418,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,436 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,145,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 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.