Citigroup Boosts Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target to $88.00

Key Points

• Citigroup has raised its price target for Western Digital from $78.00 to $88.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.83% from its previous close.
• Western Digital's shares rose by 10.2% in midday trading, reaching $78.69 and showing significant trading volume compared to its average.
• The company's Board of Directors has authorized a $2.00 billion stock buyback program, suggesting a strong belief in the stock's undervaluation.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by analysts at Citigroup from $78.00 to $88.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the data storage provider's stock. Citigroup's price objective points to a potential upside of 14.94% from the company's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. BNP Paribas reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays set a $50.00 price target on shares of Western Digital and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.74.

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC stock traded up $0.01 on Thursday, hitting $76.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,249,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,037,244. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $78.80. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $62.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.76. The stock has a market cap of $26.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.58.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) 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 24.93%. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 repurchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital 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 value of $548,354.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 605,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. This represents a 4.13% 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 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 130.0% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,029,359 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $203,337,000 after acquiring an additional 2,842,822 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 107.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $136,222,000 after buying an additional 1,742,481 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth about $50,897,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth about $68,950,000. Finally, Atalan Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth about $62,612,000. 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.