Brokerages Set Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Target Price at $84.24

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $84.24.

Several brokerages recently commented on WDC. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 15th.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,169 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $134,391.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 32,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,019,957.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 92,955 shares of company stock worth $6,327,560. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the first quarter worth approximately $1,242,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Western Digital by 28.6% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,619 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 583 shares during the period. Gerber LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $567,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in Western Digital by 6.6% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 382,071 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $26,073,000 after buying an additional 23,781 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Western Digital by 1,089.7% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,071,600 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $73,126,000 after buying an additional 981,527 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $68.29 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $35.62 and a 52 week high of $81.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $64.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.74 and a beta of 1.39.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The data storage provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.17. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 3.75% and a negative return on equity of 2.63%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.