Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Lowered to $82.00 at Mizuho

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at Mizuho from $90.00 to $82.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Mizuho’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 32.54% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on WDC. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.95.

Western Digital Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of WDC stock opened at $61.87 on Friday. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $48.96 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.39 and a beta of 1.42.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.97) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $2,092,463.67. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. The trade was a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 109,107 shares of company stock valued at $7,768,381. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aigen Investment Management LP raised its holdings in Western Digital by 124.2% during the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,462,000 after buying an additional 11,860 shares during the last quarter. Avala Global LP increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. Avala Global LP now owns 1,147,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $78,376,000 after purchasing an additional 377,500 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 291,777 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $19,925,000 after purchasing an additional 47,965 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $18,917,000 after buying an additional 27,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 137.9% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,575 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,976,000 after buying an additional 25,262 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

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.