Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $85.00 at Evercore ISI

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Evercore ISI from $80.00 to $85.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 20.57% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WDC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Western Digital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.25.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of WDC stock traded up $1.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $70.50. 8,946,817 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,029,723. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $32.01 and a fifty-two week high of $76.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $22.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.86 and a beta of 1.57. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.78.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 19.90% and a negative return on equity of 19.45%. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.57) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Western Digital will post -2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,186 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,918 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,552,000 after purchasing an additional 18,044 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 137,097 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $6,256,000 after purchasing an additional 6,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $228,000. Hedge funds and other 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.