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

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

WSM has been the subject of several other reports. Wedbush cut Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE WSM opened at $171.98 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $143.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.82. Williams-Sonoma has a 52-week low of $90.31 and a 52-week high of $181.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.76.

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

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This represents a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total value of $5,219,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 990,956 shares in the company, valued at $129,309,848.44. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 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 third 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 in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% in the third 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% during 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 purchasing an additional 565,745 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

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.