Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target Raised to $145.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price target hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $136.00 to $145.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Wedbush lowered shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $171.88 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $143.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.74. Williams-Sonoma has a 12-month low of $90.31 and a 12-month high of $181.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 26.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma 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 $129,309,848.44. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This represents a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 186.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,536 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,167,000 after buying an additional 4,901 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 97.1% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038 shares during the period. Novare Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 68.7% during the third quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC now owns 10,145 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,572,000 after purchasing an additional 4,132 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $326,931,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145,410 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 105.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 173,621 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,897,000 after buying an additional 88,936 shares during the last quarter. 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.