Evercore ISI Raises Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target to $85.00

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Evercore ISI from $80.00 to $85.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price indicates a potential upside of 19.11% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also commented on WDC. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James lowered shares of Western Digital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.25.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock opened at $71.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Western Digital has a one year low of $32.01 and a one year high of $76.92. The stock has a market cap of $23.25 billion, a PE ratio of -14.36 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.03.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 12.87% and a negative return on equity of 13.67%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.57) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Western Digital will post -2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Highview Capital Management LLC DE bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $701,000. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $267,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 37.3% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 843 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $538,000. Finally, Wolff Financial Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

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.