Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $136.00 to $145.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Williams-Sonoma traded as high as $175.80 and last traded at $169.36, with a volume of 1258915 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $137.24.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The trade was a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total value of $5,219,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 990,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $129,309,848.44. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 91,100 shares of company stock valued at $12,525,126 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $21.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $141.53 and a 200 day moving average of $144.33.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

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.