Robert W. Baird Lowers Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target to $80.00

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective reduced by equities researchers at Robert W. Baird from $100.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective points to a potential upside of 21.90% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Western Digital from $81.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. BNP Paribas dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.05.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC traded up $2.83 on Thursday, hitting $65.63. 9,281,790 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,284,368. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $52.77 and a 12 month high of $81.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.61 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $65.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.62.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,121.37. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,347 shares of company stock worth $93,027 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sachem Head Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 75.2% in the third quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP now owns 2,030,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $138,629,000 after purchasing an additional 871,500 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 24.6% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $253,453,000 after purchasing an additional 732,344 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 25.7% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $218,034,000 after buying an additional 651,847 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $926,879,000 after buying an additional 423,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 13.2% in the third quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,287,400 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $224,497,000 after acquiring an additional 383,390 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.