Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target Raised to $165.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target points to a potential downside of 4.00% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $171.88 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma has a 12-month low of $90.31 and a 12-month high of $181.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.76. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.74.

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

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was 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 directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The trade was a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 91,100 shares of company stock valued at $12,525,126. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,360,384,000 after acquiring an additional 3,695,837 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $825,588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777,339 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $418,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,436 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $326,931,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145,410 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 104.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,105,336 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $171,239,000 after buying an additional 565,745 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by 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.