Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $54.00 at Morgan Stanley

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

WDC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Summit Insights raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.65.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC opened at $44.69 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.54 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $40.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.05. Western Digital has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 47.62%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,416 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,415 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beta Wealth Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.