Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Given New $80.00 Price Target at Barclays

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective decreased by research analysts at Barclays from $90.00 to $80.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 24.51% from the company’s current price.

WDC has been the subject of a number of other reports. BNP Paribas lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Western Digital from $81.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.65.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock opened at $64.25 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $65.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.47. The firm has a market cap of $22.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.79 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $51.75 and a 1 year high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.97) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total value of $2,092,463.67. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. The trade was a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total transaction of $139,390.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 sold a total of 109,107 shares of company stock valued at $7,768,381 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WDC. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $95,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 2.3% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 274,976 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $20,835,000 after purchasing an additional 6,148 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 17.1% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,331 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 777 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $1,754,000 after purchasing an additional 3,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 7.7% during 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 period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

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.