Evercore ISI Raises Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target to $90.00

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at Evercore ISI from $85.00 to $90.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target indicates a potential upside of 15.50% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on WDC. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Western Digital from $65.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Western Digital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Western Digital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 6th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.52.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock traded down $0.90 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $77.92. The company had a trading volume of 1,789,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,285,938. The company has a market capitalization of $25.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.68 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $76.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.54. 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 12-month low of $35.62 and a 12-month high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 12.87% and a negative return on equity of 13.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.57) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post -1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.88, for a total transaction of $29,902.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,179,473.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 416 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.88, for a total value of $29,902.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,179,473.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 26,853 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.48, for a total value of $1,973,158.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 144,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,626,898.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 27,488 shares of company stock worth $2,020,143. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 103,750 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $5,433,000 after acquiring an additional 24,100 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 14,113 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $739,000 after buying an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth about $480,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,415,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 81,346 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $4,260,000 after purchasing an additional 15,285 shares during the last quarter. 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.