Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Receives $80.21 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $80.21.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WDC shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Western Digital in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Benchmark cut shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock opened at $43.66 on Tuesday. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $39.42 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $15.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.40 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $57.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Western Digital by 5.4% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,929 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Western Digital by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,416 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Western Digital by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. BNP Paribas grew its stake in Western Digital by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,415 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in Western Digital by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 932 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. 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.