Susquehanna Increases Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target to $83.00

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target raised by Susquehanna from $75.00 to $83.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.09.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC opened at $69.45 on Friday. Western Digital has a one year low of $35.62 and a one year high of $81.55. The business has a fifty day moving average of $65.42 and a 200 day moving average of $69.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.97 and a beta of 1.39.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 2.63% and a negative net margin of 3.75%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.97) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Western Digital news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 92,955 shares of company stock valued at $6,327,560. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter valued at approximately $437,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 822,281 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $56,112,000 after purchasing an additional 64,980 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in Western Digital by 14.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,688 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fountainhead AM LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at about $239,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.