Brokerages Set Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Target Price at $176.75

Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Hold" by the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $176.75.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $182.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $181.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total value of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,810,196.48. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total value of $5,045,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 966,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $162,617,782.86. This trade represents a 3.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 72,915 shares of company stock worth $12,036,346 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Redwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at $1,424,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at about $895,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 44,398 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $7,019,000 after acquiring an additional 9,266 shares during the last quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 23,950 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,435,000 after acquiring an additional 7,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,402 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:WSM traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $170.42. The company had a trading volume of 1,082,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,957,143. Williams-Sonoma has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The firm has a market cap of $20.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.45. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $164.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.39.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 52.79%. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.48 EPS. Williams-Sonoma's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.90%.

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.