Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) PT Raised to $100.00

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at Robert W. Baird from $65.00 to $100.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 40.13% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on WDC. StockNews.com lowered shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Western Digital in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James lowered shares of Western Digital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.25.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $71.36 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.36 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $32.01 and a 52 week high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($1.57) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Western Digital will post -2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

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

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.