Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Lowered to $72.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its target price cut by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $79.00 to $72.00 in a report issued on Thursday. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 8.34% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WDC. Summit Insights cut Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush increased their price objective on Western Digital from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup cut their price objective on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Western Digital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.95.

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC traded down $0.15 during trading on Thursday, reaching $66.46. 4,054,173 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,100,786. The company has a market capitalization of $22.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.52 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. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $65.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.75. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $35.62 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55.

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. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 3.75% and a negative return on equity of 2.63%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Western Digital will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. This trade represents 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. In other news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $27,059.13. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 28,870 shares in the company, valued at $1,873,374.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 92,955 shares of company stock valued at $6,327,560 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at $273,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at about $437,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at about $299,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its position in Western Digital by 8.6% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 822,281 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $56,112,000 after buying an additional 64,980 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.