Bank of America Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its target price cut by research analysts at Bank of America from $89.00 to $80.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 23.00% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on WDC. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $81.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.65.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.2 %

WDC opened at $65.04 on Thursday. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $52.76 and a 1 year high of $81.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $65.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $22.48 billion, a PE ratio of 38.26 and a beta of 1.43.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.97) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,020,121.37. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total transaction of $5,443,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 821,630 shares in the company, valued at $59,633,905.40. This represents a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 109,107 shares of company stock valued at $7,768,381 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Western Digital by 278.9% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 2,184.2% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter valued at $42,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Western Digital

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.