Evercore ISI Lowers Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target to $300.00

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its target price decreased by stock analysts at Evercore ISI from $315.00 to $300.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “in-line” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 6.30% from the company’s previous close.

WSM has been the topic of several other reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $154.00 to $263.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, March 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $248.06.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.1 %

WSM stock opened at $282.23 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.70. Williams-Sonoma has a 12-month low of $109.44 and a 12-month high of $319.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $266.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.90.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total value of $5,490,713.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total value of $5,490,713.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,140,909.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219 in the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 46,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,915,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 14,762 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,118 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $56,712,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1,415.9% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,092 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 1,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth about $292,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.