Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Given New $85.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective lowered by Citigroup from $87.00 to $85.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

WDC has been the topic of several other research reports. Susquehanna increased their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 15th. TD Cowen reduced their price target 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. BNP Paribas lowered their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.71.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $71.69 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $46.47 and a 52 week high of $81.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.17 and a beta of 1.42.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.97) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Western Digital will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. This trade represents a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 184,107 shares of company stock valued at $13,042,381 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Western Digital by 2,184.2% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth $34,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.