TD Cowen Cuts Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target to $58.00

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at TD Cowen from $80.00 to $58.00 in a research report issued on Thursday. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the data storage provider's stock. TD Cowen's price objective suggests a potential upside of 32.24% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Western Digital from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Benchmark upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $68.53.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $43.86 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.44 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $40.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.44.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,131 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 11,013 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 841,700 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $50,191,000 after buying an additional 50,188 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 390,826 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $23,305,000 after buying an additional 15,189 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 83.9% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 31,634 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 14,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Western Digital by 53.3% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 99,444 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,930,000 after buying an additional 34,579 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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