Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $87.00

Key Points

• Mizuho raised its price target for Western Digital from $75.00 to $87.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.47% from the company's current price.
• The average rating for Western Digital is a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of $78.74, alongside recent reports from other firms adjusting their price targets.
• Western Digital reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.66, exceeding estimates, and achieving a 30.0% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by stock analysts at Mizuho from $75.00 to $87.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the data storage provider's stock. Mizuho's target price would suggest a potential upside of 14.47% from the company's current price.

WDC has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $50.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 2nd. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $78.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.74.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC traded down $2.69 during trading on Friday, hitting $76.00. The company had a trading volume of 4,429,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,053,481. The company has a market cap of $26.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73 and a beta of 1.54. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $78.80. The business's 50-day moving average is $61.69 and its 200 day moving average is $53.81. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.18. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 22.13%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the data storage provider to purchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 130.0% in 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 period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 107.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $136,222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742,481 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth $50,897,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $68,950,000. Finally, Atalan Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $62,612,000. 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.

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