Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $75.00 at UBS Group

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by stock analysts at UBS Group from $45.00 to $75.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the data storage provider's stock. UBS Group's price target suggests a potential upside of 9.64% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on WDC. Rosenblatt Securities cut 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 report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Benchmark upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.84.

Western Digital Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Western Digital stock traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $68.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 505,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,941,124. Western Digital has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $68.57. The company has a market capitalization of $23.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96 and a beta of 1.54. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $57.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.56.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 20.58%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding 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 generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at $2,200,084.32. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 605,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 52.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,838 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,166,000 after acquiring an additional 9,974 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 5.1% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 144,307 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $5,834,000 after purchasing an additional 6,947 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 6.8% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 89,244 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $3,608,000 after buying an additional 5,711 shares in the last quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 156,247 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $9,317,000 after purchasing an additional 27,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,711,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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