Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Stock Price

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price objective upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on WSM. Citigroup reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wedbush downgraded 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. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $171.98 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $143.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.82. The company has a market capitalization of $21.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma has a 52 week low of $90.31 and a 52 week high of $181.42.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This represents a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,100 shares of company stock valued at $12,525,126. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 166 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.