Brokerages Set Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) PT at $199.11

Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $199.1111.

WSM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM stock opened at $196.38 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $198.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.82. Williams-Sonoma has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98. The stock has a market cap of $23.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.55.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 54.47%. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.74 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.04%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total transaction of $626,942.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,138 shares in the company, valued at $6,787,999.92. This represents a 8.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.60, for a total transaction of $3,563,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,560 shares in the company, valued at $20,066,816. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 144,153 shares of company stock valued at $27,946,408. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maseco LLP bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 130.8% during the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 180 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 99.0% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 199 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $33,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.