Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Rosenblatt Securities Analyst Says

Key Points

• Rosenblatt Securities has raised its price target for Western Digital's stock from $53.00 to $90.00, indicating a potential upside of 20.76% from its previous close.
• The company has also announced a $2 billion stock buyback program, suggesting that its board believes the stock is currently undervalued.
• Western Digital's recent quarterly earnings reflected a 30% year-over-year revenue increase, with an EPS of $1.66, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.48.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at Rosenblatt Securities from $53.00 to $90.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the data storage provider's stock. Rosenblatt Securities' price objective indicates a potential upside of 17.57% from the company's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $45.00 to $57.00 in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 note on Tuesday. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.74.

Western Digital Stock Down 2.7%

WDC traded down $2.14 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $76.55. 8,789,013 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,140,905. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $62.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.90. The company has a market cap of $26.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.86 and a beta of 1.58. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $78.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

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

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

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was 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 directly owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WDC. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake in Western Digital by 130.0% during 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 buying an additional 2,842,822 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Western Digital by 107.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $136,222,000 after buying an additional 1,742,481 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at about $50,897,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $68,950,000. Finally, Atalan Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $62,612,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

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.