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

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Wedbush from $78.00 to $90.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Wedbush’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 17.57% from the company’s previous close.

WDC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. TD Securities decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Benchmark upgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.74.

Western Digital Stock Down 2.7%

WDC stock opened at $76.55 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.90. The company has a market cap of $26.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.86 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.08. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $78.80.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.18. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of Western Digital 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 40,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $548,354.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 605,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,353 shares of company stock valued at $657,454 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 130.0% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,029,359 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $203,337,000 after buying an additional 2,842,822 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 107.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $136,222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742,481 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth $50,897,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth $68,950,000. Finally, Atalan Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $62,612,000. 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.