Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Increased to $85.00 by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective hoisted by Evercore ISI from $80.00 to $85.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on WDC. Benchmark upgraded Western Digital from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Western Digital from $65.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $77.25.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $71.36 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $65.08 and a 200 day moving average of $54.96. 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 52 week low of $32.01 and a 52 week high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 13.67% and a negative net margin of 12.87%. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.57) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Western Digital will post -2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Western Digital 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 owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 215,207 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 7.0% during the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 13,361,999 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $609,708,000 after purchasing an additional 870,971 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 5,587,698 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $292,628,000 after buying an additional 443,903 shares during the period. Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $212,900,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2.9% in 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 buying an additional 92,009 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

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.