Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $80.00

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Barclays from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target points to a potential upside of 14.42% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on WDC. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $68.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.72.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $69.92 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $22.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.81 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.57. Western Digital has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported ($0.69) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.30) by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3 billion. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 19.90% and a negative return on equity of 19.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.69) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Western Digital will post -2.21 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter worth $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in Western Digital during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 121.7% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 614 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in Western Digital by 79.1% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 747 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. 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.