Analysts Set Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Target Price at $262.13

Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eighteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $131.06.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WSM. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $157.50 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $97.50 to $127.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $125.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 5.0 %

Shares of WSM stock opened at $153.58 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma has a 12-month low of $62.11 and a 12-month high of $174.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $149.20 and a 200-day moving average of $132.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.75.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.65. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 13.83% and a return on equity of 54.50%. Research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma will post 16.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, insider Monica Bhargava sold 17,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.14, for a total transaction of $2,663,938.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Monica Bhargava sold 17,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.14, for a total transaction of $2,663,938.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.27, for a total transaction of $6,370,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,111,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $176,959,341.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,862 shares of company stock valued at $11,913,039. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WSM. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth $274,000. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at about $220,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 64,062 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $12,927,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter worth about $4,102,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 425.3% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 78,060 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $15,751,000 after purchasing an additional 63,200 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.