Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Receives $84.42 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $84.42.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WDC. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,929 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $200,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,416 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,415 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,575,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 932 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Down 3.6 %

WDC opened at $68.71 on Friday. Western Digital has a twelve month low of $52.77 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $64.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.66. The company has a market cap of $23.90 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36 and a beta of 1.44.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. Sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital will post 4.89 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.