Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $62.00

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by investment analysts at Citigroup from $56.00 to $62.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the data storage provider's stock. Citigroup's price target suggests a potential upside of 12.62% from the stock's current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Summit Insights raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $76.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna lowered 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 note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $63.84.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.05. The company had a trading volume of 10,981,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,437,816. The business's 50-day moving average is $43.21 and its 200-day moving average is $54.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $19.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 1.49. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business's revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were 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 now directly owns 605,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 13,494 shares of company stock valued at $636,747. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,938,495 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,736,003,000 after buying an additional 478,728 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 10.4% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $352,572,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 130.0% during the first 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 last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 23.7% during the fourth 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 purchasing 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.