Susquehanna Issues Positive Forecast for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price

Key Points

• Western Digital's price target has been raised by Susquehanna from $40.00 to $62.00, indicating a potential downside of 17.33% from the current stock price.
• Wells Fargo reissued an "overweight" rating with a new target price of $95.00, while the consensus price target among analysts stands at $76.16.
• The company's stock buyback plan allows for repurchasing $2.00 billion worth of shares, typically indicating that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by research analysts at Susquehanna from $40.00 to $62.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the data storage provider's stock. Susquehanna's target price would indicate a potential downside of 18.25% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on WDC. Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. TD Securities dropped their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark raised their price objective on Western Digital from $58.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen started coverage on Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 2nd. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Four equities research 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, Western Digital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $78.74.

Western Digital Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC traded down $1.45 on Friday, hitting $75.84. The company had a trading volume of 5,196,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,041,504. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $28.83 and a 1 year high of $78.80. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $62.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.84.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.18. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the data storage provider to repurchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 605,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,178,129.39. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total value of $94,887.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 24,691 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,227,000 after buying an additional 2,052 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,629 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 166,891 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $9,952,000 after buying an additional 28,046 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.