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

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price target upped by equities researchers at TD Cowen from $165.00 to $195.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. TD Cowen’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 13.45% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on WSM. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wedbush downgraded Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM stock opened at $171.88 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma has a 1 year low of $90.31 and a 1 year high of $181.42. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.71 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 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 quarter last year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This trade represents a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 140.0% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 660 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 101.9% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,103 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $791,000 after buying an additional 2,576 shares during the period. Second Line Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $203,000. TCW Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,958,000. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 32.0% during the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,302 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,371,000 after buying an additional 3,707 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

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.