Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $100.00 at Morgan Stanley

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $100.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 34.41% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on WDC. Citigroup cut their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group cut their price objective on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.59.

Western Digital Stock Up 12.2 %

NASDAQ WDC opened at $74.40 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $65.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.73. Western Digital has a one year low of $35.62 and a one year high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $25.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -40.88 and a beta of 1.39.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The data storage provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 3.75% and a negative return on equity of 2.63%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Western Digital will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Western Digital news, 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 value of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 12,154 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.09, for a total transaction of $693,871.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,331,098.17. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 92,955 shares of company stock valued at $6,327,560 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $437,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 822,281 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $56,112,000 after acquiring an additional 64,980 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in Western Digital by 14.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,688 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the period. Finally, Fountainhead AM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth about $239,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.