Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Receives $84.42 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $84.42.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WDC shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,531,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,149 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $926,879,000 after buying an additional 423,651 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $520,450,000 after buying an additional 823,656 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth $352,572,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 23.7% during 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 during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock traded down $2.58 during trading on Friday, hitting $68.71. The stock had a trading volume of 9,049,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,672,517. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $52.77 and a 12 month high of $81.55. The firm has a market cap of $23.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36 and a beta of 1.44. The business's 50-day moving average is $64.70 and its 200 day moving average is $65.45.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current 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.