Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $100.00 at Robert W. Baird

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Robert W. Baird from $65.00 to $100.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 44.01% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.75.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC opened at $69.44 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $64.73 and its 200-day moving average is $54.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.74 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $32.01 and a 12-month high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 19.90% and a negative return on equity of 19.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.57) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post -2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,579,938 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,020,431,000 after purchasing an additional 215,207 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 13,361,999 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $609,708,000 after acquiring an additional 870,971 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 5,587,698 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $292,628,000 after acquiring an additional 443,903 shares during the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $212,900,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,268,764 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $149,154,000 after acquiring an additional 92,009 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.