Brokerages Set Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target at $86.33

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $85.95.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. UBS Group dropped their target price on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. BNP Paribas decreased their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, November 26th.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $64.07 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.69 and a beta of 1.42. Western Digital has a 1-year low of $48.96 and a 1-year high of $81.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.97) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Western Digital will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $5,443,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 821,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,633,905.40. The trade was a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. This represents a 18.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 109,107 shares of company stock worth $7,768,381. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Western Digital by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $926,879,000 after acquiring an additional 423,651 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,921,608 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $539,355,000 after purchasing an additional 76,781 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $253,453,000 after purchasing an additional 732,344 shares in the last quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,287,400 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $224,497,000 after buying an additional 383,390 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $218,034,000 after buying an additional 651,847 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is 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.