Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Cut to $80.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target reduced by Barclays from $90.00 to $80.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

WDC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America cut their price target on Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.65.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $65.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.26 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Western Digital has a 1-year low of $52.76 and a 1-year high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.97) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $2,092,463.67. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,398 shares in the company, valued at $9,208,417.98. This trade represents a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $139,390.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,723.52. This trade represents a 6.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 109,107 shares of company stock worth $7,768,381 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at $95,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.3% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 274,976 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $20,835,000 after acquiring an additional 6,148 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 17.1% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,331 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 16.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 23,711 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,754,000 after purchasing an additional 3,274 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 7.7% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 19,270 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. 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.