Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Upgraded at UBS Group

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

WSM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $163.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $197.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $172.03.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction 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 represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,360,384,000 after buying an additional 3,695,837 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $825,588,000 after acquiring an additional 2,777,339 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $418,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,436 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% during the third 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 increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,902,382 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $352,283,000 after acquiring an additional 249,389 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by 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.