Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Cut to $93.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective lowered by Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $93.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen cut their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC opened at $59.62 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.61 billion, a PE ratio of 35.07 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $67.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.50. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $48.96 and a 52 week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.97) EPS. Western Digital’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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total value of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,020,121.37. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $2,092,463.67. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares in the company, valued at $9,208,417.98. This represents a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 184,107 shares of company stock valued at $13,042,381 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Western Digital in the third quarter worth $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 2,184.2% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Company Profile

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.