Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Coverage Initiated at The Goldman Sachs Group

Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target on the data storage provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 5.84% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays set a $50.00 price target on Western Digital and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on Western Digital from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Mizuho cut their price target on Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group increased their price target on Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities cut their price target on Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.11.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $66.14 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.15. Western Digital has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $80.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.07 billion, a PE ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.30. Western Digital had a return on equity of 20.58% and a net margin of 13.33%. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the data storage provider to repurchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $548,354.01. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 605,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total transaction of $94,887.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at $2,200,084.32. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elequin Capital LP bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Western Digital by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.