Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target cut by equities researchers at Citigroup from $87.00 to $85.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price target suggests a potential upside of 15.76% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on WDC. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.71.

Western Digital Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:WDC traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $73.43. 5,392,654 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,830,806. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.19 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $67.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.04. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $46.47 and a 12-month high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. Western Digital’s revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.97) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 186,276 shares of company stock worth $13,176,773. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Western Digital by 6.8% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,401 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Western Digital by 25.4% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,916 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 997 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in Western Digital by 15.6% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,527 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Western Digital by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,203 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $710,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently 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.