Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Cut to $85.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target reduced by Citigroup from $87.00 to $85.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, November 29th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.71.

Western Digital Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $71.69 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.04. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $46.47 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The firm has a market cap of $24.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.17 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.97) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Western Digital will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total transaction of $139,390.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,723.52. This trade represents a 6.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 184,107 shares of company stock worth $13,042,381 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the third quarter worth $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 2,184.2% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.