Barclays Increases Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target to $123.00

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price target lifted by Barclays from $116.00 to $123.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wedbush downgraded Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.3 %

WSM opened at $171.98 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $143.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.82. The company has a market cap of $21.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma has a 1-year low of $90.31 and a 1-year high of $181.42.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 26.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 19.7% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 28.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 7,281 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,312,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $286,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 374.8% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the period. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth about $239,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.