Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) PT Lowered to $90.00 at BNP Paribas

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective lowered by BNP Paribas from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

WDC has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Western Digital from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Summit Insights lowered Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.09.

Western Digital Stock Up 4.7 %

WDC opened at $69.45 on Thursday. 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 has a one year low of $35.62 and a one year high of $81.55. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $65.42 and a 200-day moving average price 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.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.97) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Western Digital will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 12,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.09, for a total value of $693,871.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,413 shares in the company, valued at $7,331,098.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 12,154 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, 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 90 days, insiders have sold 92,955 shares of company stock valued at $6,327,560. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,242,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 28.6% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,619 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Ghisallo Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at $13,260,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 382,071 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $26,073,000 after purchasing an additional 23,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Western Digital by 1,089.7% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,071,600 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $73,126,000 after purchasing an additional 981,527 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.