Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Increased to $83.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target boosted by Morgan Stanley from $73.00 to $83.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

WDC has been the subject of several other research reports. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $68.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Western Digital from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays raised their target price on Western Digital from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $73.17.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock opened at $68.32 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.99. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $76.92. The firm has a market cap of $22.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.58 and a beta of 1.57.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported ($0.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.30) by $0.61. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.45% and a negative net margin of 19.90%. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.69) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Western Digital will post -2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently 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.