Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Receives $86.33 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fifteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $85.95.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WDC. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total transaction of $139,390.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,140,723.52. The trade was a 6.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $2,092,463.67. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. The trade was a 18.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 109,107 shares of company stock worth $7,768,381 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its stake in Western Digital by 124.2% in the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 11,860 shares during the last quarter. Avala Global LP lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. Avala Global LP now owns 1,147,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $78,376,000 after purchasing an additional 377,500 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 19.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 291,777 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $19,925,000 after purchasing an additional 47,965 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Western Digital by 11.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $18,917,000 after buying an additional 27,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 137.9% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,575 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,976,000 after buying an additional 25,262 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $64.07 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $66.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.20. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $48.96 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55. The firm has a market cap of $22.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.69 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.97) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.