Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target reduced by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $82.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price target points to a potential upside of 22.83% from the company’s previous close.

WDC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $81.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Benchmark lowered Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.21.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $65.13 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $65.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.52. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $52.77 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.52 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a return on equity of 16.13% and a net margin of 9.95%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total value of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,347 shares of company stock worth $93,027. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Western Digital in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 278.9% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 2,184.2% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 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.