Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective hoisted by UBS Group from $70.00 to $74.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas lowered their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays dropped their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Benchmark cut shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.42.

Western Digital Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of WDC opened at $67.28 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.18. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $52.77 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $23.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02 and a beta of 1.44.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the business’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,347 shares of company stock valued at $93,027 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $352,572,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $94,181,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,531,876,000 after buying an additional 1,439,149 shares during the last quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $138,629,000 after acquiring an additional 871,500 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $520,450,000 after acquiring an additional 823,656 shares during the period. 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.