Evercore ISI Boosts Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target to $315.00

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Evercore ISI from $310.00 to $315.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "in-line" rating on the specialty retailer's stock. Evercore ISI's price target would suggest a potential downside of 0.68% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on WSM. Loop Capital increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $257.13.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM traded up $1.53 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $317.15. 841,819 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 978,383. Williams-Sonoma has a fifty-two week low of $109.44 and a fifty-two week high of $322.04. The company has a market cap of $20.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.72. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $291.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $229.67.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The company's revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma will post 15.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $5,490,713.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $5,490,713.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219 in the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth $152,843,000. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4,101.0% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 138,004 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $27,846,000 after acquiring an additional 134,719 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at $40,060,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 638.3% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 142,402 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $22,129,000 after acquiring an additional 123,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 39.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 386,861 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $60,118,000 after buying an additional 109,533 shares during the last quarter. 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.