Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Given New $180.00 Price Target at Evercore ISI

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price target raised by Evercore ISI from $140.00 to $180.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an in-line rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

WSM has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of WSM traded up $1.33 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $173.82. 139,044 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,960,403. Williams-Sonoma has a 52-week low of $90.31 and a 52-week high of $181.42. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.74. The company has a market cap of $21.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.46, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. The company 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 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business’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 firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. This trade represents a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total transaction of $5,219,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 990,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,309,848.44. The trade was a 3.88 % 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 over the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WSM. FMR LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,360,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,695,837 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $825,588,000 after buying an additional 2,777,339 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $418,223,000 after buying an additional 1,393,436 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% during the third 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. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,036,256 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $160,537,000 after buying an additional 792,068 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.