Brokerages Set Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Target Price at $199.00

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $199.00.

Several brokerages recently commented on WSM. Argus set a $212.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $206.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.79, for a total value of $695,765.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,783,656.37. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 12,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.07, for a total transaction of $2,201,992.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 846,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $153,353,071.89. This trade represents a 1.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,653 shares of company stock valued at $6,709,140. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 153.7% in the second quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 12,279 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after acquiring an additional 7,439 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 54.9% during the 2nd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,961,000 after purchasing an additional 8,592 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $655,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 816,176 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $133,029,000 after purchasing an additional 60,163 shares during the period. Finally, Nvwm LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 918.6% during the second quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 5,093 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 4,593 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE WSM opened at $185.67 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $186.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.72. Williams-Sonoma has a fifty-two week low of $130.07 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The company has a market cap of $22.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.55.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The specialty retailer reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 53.10%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.04%.

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.