Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $145.00 at Bank of America

Key Points

• Bank of America has raised its price target for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) from $141.00 to $145.00, indicating a potential upside of 19.93% based on the previous closing price.
• Several other analysts have also recently adjusted their ratings, with the most optimistic being Loop Capital, which set a target of $150.00.
• Western Digital's stock has shown significant trading activity, with 92.51% of shares owned by institutional investors, reflecting strong confidence in the company from this sector.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by investment analysts at Bank of America from $141.00 to $145.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the data storage provider's stock. Bank of America's price target would indicate a potential upside of 19.93% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $92.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Western Digital to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Barclays increased their price target on Western Digital from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $108.85.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WDC traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $120.91. The company had a trading volume of 822,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,185,416. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $41.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.77. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $100.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.74. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $137.40.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%. On average, analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total transaction of $28,557.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 27,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,218,682.50. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total value of $1,051,930.26. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 135,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,121,547.78. This represents a 9.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,730 shares of company stock worth $3,921,594 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $220,680,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its stake in Western Digital by 1,926.3% in the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,842,822 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Western Digital by 107.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $136,222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth $50,897,000. Hedge funds and other 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.

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