Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $85.00

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective raised by Evercore ISI from $80.00 to $85.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. StockNews.com lowered Western Digital from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Western Digital from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the company from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and sixteen 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 $77.25.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $71.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.67. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $32.01 and a 1 year high of $76.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $65.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.96.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 12.87% and a negative return on equity of 13.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.57) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital will post -2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Western Digital news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,186 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its position in Western Digital by 47.6% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,918 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,552,000 after acquiring an additional 18,044 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 5.3% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 137,097 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $6,256,000 after purchasing an additional 6,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter valued at $228,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

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.