Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $46.00 to $54.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 20.83% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on WDC. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.65.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.7 %

WDC stock opened at $44.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.30. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This trade represents a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 278.9% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Western Digital by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.