Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) PT Raised to $95.00

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $80.00 to $95.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price target indicates a potential upside of 36.79% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday. UBS Group decreased their target price on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.09.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $69.45 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.68. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $35.62 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The firm has a market cap of $22.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.97 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The data storage provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 2.63% and a negative net margin of 3.75%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 12,154 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.09, for a total transaction of $693,871.86. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,331,098.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $27,059.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,873,374.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 12,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.09, for a total transaction of $693,871.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 128,413 shares in the company, valued at $7,331,098.17. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 92,955 shares of company stock valued at $6,327,560. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WDC. AGF Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 28,925.8% in the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 2,202,190 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $166,860,000 after acquiring an additional 2,194,603 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 247.0% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,446,509 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $109,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,658 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 1,089.7% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,071,600 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $73,126,000 after purchasing an additional 981,527 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 39.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,861,229 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $216,795,000 after purchasing an additional 810,977 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 304.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 709,386 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $53,750,000 after buying an additional 534,168 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Western Digital

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.