Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Stock

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its target price hoisted by analysts at Barclays from $116.00 to $123.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Barclays‘s price target points to a potential downside of 28.44% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on WSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on 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. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE WSM opened at $171.88 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.74. The firm has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma has a 52 week low of $90.31 and a 52 week high of $181.42.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. The trade was a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total transaction of $5,219,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 990,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,309,848.44. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 91,100 shares of company stock valued at $12,525,126 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WSM. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 19.7% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 28.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 7,281 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at about $286,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 374.8% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first 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.