Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Stock Rating Upgraded by UBS Group

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) was upgraded by stock analysts at UBS Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $165.00 price objective on the specialty retailer’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $140.00. UBS Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 1.06% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on WSM. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $194.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $163.27 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98. The stock has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $197.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.03.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.44 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WSM. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,360,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,695,837 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $825,588,000 after buying an additional 2,777,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $418,223,000 after buying an additional 1,393,436 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $326,931,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,902,382 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $352,283,000 after acquiring an additional 249,389 shares during the period. 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.