Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its target price reduced by Citigroup from $64.00 to $48.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 34.00% from the company’s previous close.

WDC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Benchmark raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.16.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC traded up $1.42 on Monday, hitting $35.82. 9,946,613 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,343,622. The firm has a market cap of $12.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.87. Western Digital has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $81.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Western Digital by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,416 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas raised its holdings in Western Digital by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,415 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Beta Wealth Group Inc. raised its position in Western Digital by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.