Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $85.00 at Evercore ISI

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI from $80.00 to $85.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price points to a potential upside of 20.57% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on WDC. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $66.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.25.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDC traded up $1.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $70.50. The company had a trading volume of 8,946,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,029,723. Western Digital has a 52-week low of $32.01 and a 52-week high of $76.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $64.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.78. The company has a market capitalization of $22.97 billion, a PE ratio of -9.86 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 121.7% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 614 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 79.1% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 747 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. 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.