Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $70.00 to $78.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the data storage provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 31.10% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BNP Paribas reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Summit Insights raised Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $63.79.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC traded up $2.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $59.50. The company had a trading volume of 2,916,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,458,316. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $20.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 1.49. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $46.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.46.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. Western Digital's quarterly revenue was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the data storage provider to reacquire up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total transaction of $94,887.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $548,354.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,600 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Western Digital by 89.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,883 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $530,000 after buying an additional 4,187 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in Western Digital by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 137,360 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $8,338,000 after acquiring an additional 5,159 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Western Digital by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 628,672 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $37,488,000 after buying an additional 8,029 shares during the period. 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.

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