Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Receives $84.42 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $83.05.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WDC. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark lowered Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Western Digital from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Western Digital Stock Down 3.9 %

WDC stock opened at $48.20 on Friday. Western Digital has a twelve month low of $39.58 and a twelve month high of $61.16. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $63.64 and its 200-day moving average is $65.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48 and a beta of 1.44.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,439,149 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 3.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $926,879,000 after purchasing an additional 423,651 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 823,656 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $352,572,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 23.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 881,088 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.