Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective reduced by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $93.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 54.38% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on WDC. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $60.24 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.44 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.50. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $48.96 and a 1 year high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.97) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,051,021.60. This represents a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total value of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,121.37. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 184,107 shares of company stock valued at $13,042,381. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 2,184.2% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), gaming consoles, and set top boxes; and flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices, as well as automotive, Internet of Things, industrial, and connected home applications.