Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $86.00 at Morgan Stanley

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target upped by Morgan Stanley from $83.00 to $86.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James cut shares of Western Digital from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Western Digital from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Western Digital from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $77.25.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $71.36 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $65.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.96. Western Digital has a 52-week low of $32.01 and a 52-week high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 12.87% and a negative return on equity of 13.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.57) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital will post -2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the director now 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 Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at $212,900,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $150,958,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth $48,466,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 7.0% in 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 buying an additional 870,971 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $37,260,000. 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.