Robert W. Baird Cuts Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target to $80.00

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective trimmed by Robert W. Baird from $100.00 to $80.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on WDC. UBS Group reduced their price target on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Benchmark cut Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 19th. BNP Paribas lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.21.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $65.13 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $65.67 and a 200-day moving average of $65.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $52.77 and a 1 year high of $81.55. The company has a market capitalization of $22.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 1.43.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 16.13%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,347 shares of company stock worth $93,027 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Sachem Head Capital Management LP increased its stake in Western Digital by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP now owns 2,030,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $138,629,000 after buying an additional 871,500 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $253,453,000 after purchasing an additional 732,344 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $218,034,000 after buying an additional 651,847 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Western Digital by 3.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $926,879,000 after buying an additional 423,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. raised its position in Western Digital by 13.2% in the third quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,287,400 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $224,497,000 after acquiring an additional 383,390 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.