Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target on the data storage provider's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's target price indicates a potential upside of 7.43% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on WDC. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. TD Securities reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Summit Insights raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Benchmark upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.42.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $65.16. 511,441 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,094,487. The company has a market cap of $22.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $66.83.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.30. Western Digital had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 20.58%. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the data storage provider to purchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total transaction of $94,887.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $548,354.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 605,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,178,129.39. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,353 shares of company stock valued at $657,454. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,938,495 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,736,003,000 after purchasing an additional 478,728 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $520,450,000 after purchasing an additional 823,656 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $352,572,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its position in Western Digital by 130.0% during the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,029,359 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $203,337,000 after buying an additional 2,842,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,592,516 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $273,852,000 after buying an additional 881,088 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.