The Goldman Sachs Group Lowers Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target to $70.00

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $81.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 11.70% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also commented on WDC. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Benchmark lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. BNP Paribas reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.86.

Western Digital Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of Western Digital stock traded down $1.39 on Friday, hitting $62.67. The stock had a trading volume of 1,604,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,424,220. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $65.95 and a 200 day moving average of $66.91. Western Digital has a twelve month low of $49.68 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.86 and a beta of 1.43.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.97) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $5,443,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 821,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,633,905.40. The trade was a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total value of $139,390.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,140,723.52. The trade was a 6.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 109,107 shares of company stock valued at $7,768,381 in the last ninety days. Corporate 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 business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,652 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $993,000 after buying an additional 2,112 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 27,666 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,669,000 after buying an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth $385,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,095 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 278.9% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. 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.