Analysts Set Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Target Price at $77.00

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $73.68.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on Western Digital from $74.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Benchmark upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Western Digital in a report on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $46.00 price target for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 3.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,439,149 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $520,450,000 after acquiring an additional 823,656 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $352,572,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,592,516 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $273,852,000 after acquiring an additional 881,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,397,671 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $202,603,000 after purchasing an additional 478,269 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $36.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $45.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.88. Western Digital has a 52-week low of $28.83 and a 52-week high of $81.55. The company has a market cap of $12.70 billion, a PE ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 1.39.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its 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 return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

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.