Evercore ISI Increases Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target to $180.00

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from $140.00 to $180.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “in-line” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 4.73% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on WSM. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $171.88 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $143.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.74. The company 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 fifty-two week low of $90.31 and a fifty-two week high of $181.42.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued 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. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 91,100 shares of company stock valued at $12,525,126 in the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 19.7% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 28.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 7,281 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,312,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at about $286,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $155,000 after buying an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth about $239,000. 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.