Brokerages Set Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target at $86.33

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $86.33.

WDC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Benchmark downgraded Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th.

Western Digital Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of WDC stock traded up $2.24 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $61.87. The company had a trading volume of 5,272,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,004,424. The company's fifty day moving average is $66.39 and its 200 day moving average is $67.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $48.96 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.39 billion, a PE ratio of 36.39 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,020,121.37. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $5,443,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 821,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,633,905.40. This trade represents a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,107 shares of company stock valued at $7,768,381 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in Western Digital by 3.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 423,651 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,921,608 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $539,355,000 after acquiring an additional 76,781 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $253,453,000 after purchasing an additional 732,344 shares during the last quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,287,400 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $224,497,000 after purchasing an additional 383,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 25.7% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $218,034,000 after purchasing an additional 651,847 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.