The Goldman Sachs Group Lowers Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target to $70.00

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target lowered by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $81.00 to $70.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 11.70% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on WDC. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays raised their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas dropped their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.86.

Western Digital Stock Down 2.2 %

Western Digital stock traded down $1.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $62.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,604,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,424,220. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Western Digital has a 52-week low of $49.68 and a 52-week high of $81.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.86 and a beta of 1.43.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company’s revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.97) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total value of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $5,443,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 821,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,633,905.40. The trade was a 8.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,107 shares of company stock valued at $7,768,381 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 278.9% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2,184.2% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.