Analysts Set Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target at $77.25

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seventeen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $77.76.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $68.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Western Digital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America upped their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Western Digital from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Western Digital from $66.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. grew its position in Western Digital by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 103,750 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $5,433,000 after buying an additional 24,100 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,028,114 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $138,173,000 after acquiring an additional 66,680 shares during the last quarter. Numerai GP LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth about $884,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,415,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Western Digital by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 81,346 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $4,260,000 after purchasing an additional 15,285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Down 2.1 %

WDC stock opened at $69.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.76 billion, a PE ratio of -14.06 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Western Digital has a twelve month low of $32.01 and a twelve month high of $76.92. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $65.39 and its 200-day moving average is $55.26.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 13.75% and a negative net margin of 12.87%. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.57) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital will post -2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.