Rosenblatt Securities Lowers Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target to $95.00

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target cut by equities researchers at Rosenblatt Securities from $115.00 to $95.00 in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ target price indicates a potential upside of 44.42% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on WDC. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.68.

Western Digital Trading Up 4.7 %

Western Digital stock opened at $65.78 on Wednesday. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $52.77 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.74 billion, a PE ratio of 38.69 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.62. 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 (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total value of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,347 shares of company stock valued at $93,027. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WDC. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,921,608 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $539,355,000 after purchasing an additional 76,781 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 24.6% in 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 buying an additional 732,344 shares during the last quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in Western Digital by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,287,400 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $224,497,000 after buying an additional 383,390 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its holdings in Western Digital by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $218,034,000 after acquiring an additional 651,847 shares during the last quarter. 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.