Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Given New $165.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price objective lifted by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $150.00 to $165.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 8.30% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on WSM. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $144.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $110.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com cut Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.61.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $8.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $179.94. The stock had a trading volume of 973,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,063,594. Williams-Sonoma has a twelve month low of $109.44 and a twelve month high of $180.04. The firm has a market cap of $11.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $152.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.93.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The specialty retailer reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.32. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 64.43% and a net margin of 11.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma will post 13.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 18,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.92, for a total transaction of $2,817,839.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 545,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,510,254.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 10,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.68, for a total transaction of $1,406,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,630,201.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 18,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.92, for a total value of $2,817,839.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 545,509 shares in the company, valued at $84,510,254.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 130,000 shares of company stock valued at $19,496,290 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter worth about $323,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 129.3% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 863.6% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 212 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.76% of the company’s stock.

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.