Rosenblatt Securities Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its target price boosted by stock analysts at Rosenblatt Securities from $53.00 to $90.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ price objective points to a potential upside of 17.57% from the company’s current price.

WDC has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Western Digital from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four investment 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.74.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $76.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.86 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.90. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $78.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.18. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the data storage provider to reacquire up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 605,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total value of $94,887.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,353 shares of company stock valued at $657,454. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,938,495 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,736,003,000 after buying an additional 478,728 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $520,450,000 after acquiring an additional 823,656 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 130.0% during the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,029,359 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $203,337,000 after acquiring an additional 2,842,822 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,592,516 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $273,852,000 after acquiring an additional 881,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 1.5% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $139,476,000 after purchasing an additional 52,140 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.