Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Given New $85.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $85.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 32.07% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Benchmark downgraded Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays lifted 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. Susquehanna upped their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.38.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC traded down $0.27 on Thursday, reaching $64.36. The company had a trading volume of 945,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,386,602. Western Digital has a one year low of $51.75 and a one year high of $81.55. The company has a market capitalization of $22.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.86 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day moving average of $65.64 and a 200-day moving average of $66.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.97) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total value of $46,053.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 821,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,633,905.40. This trade represents a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 109,107 shares of company stock worth $7,768,381 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $95,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 274,976 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $20,835,000 after purchasing an additional 6,148 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth $214,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 5.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,881,847 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $218,400,000 after acquiring an additional 143,074 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,197,000. Institutional investors 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.