Williams-Sonoma’s (WSM) “Neutral” Rating Reaffirmed at Wedbush

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Wedbush in a research note issued to investors on Friday,RTT News reports. They currently have a $190.00 price objective on the specialty retailer’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $175.00. Wedbush’s target price suggests a potential downside of 1.44% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on WSM. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $194.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.28.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $192.77. The stock had a trading volume of 277,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,263,748. The firm has a market cap of $23.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.62. Williams-Sonoma has a twelve month low of $115.79 and a twelve month high of $219.98.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total value of $560,552.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $8,228,767.32. The trade was a 6.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the third 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 grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the third 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. Norges Bank bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth $290,121,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% during 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 during the period. 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.