Bank of America Raises Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target to $145.00

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target hoisted by research analysts at Bank of America from $141.00 to $145.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 20.36% from the company’s previous close.

WDC has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $85.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $78.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.85.

Western Digital Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $120.47 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $41.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.39, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.77. Western Digital has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $137.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $102.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%. Analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total transaction of $28,557.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 27,425 shares in the company, valued at $2,218,682.50. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total value of $1,051,930.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 135,351 shares in the company, valued at $10,121,547.78. This trade represents a 9.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,730 shares of company stock valued at $3,921,594. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 154,830 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $18,589,000 after buying an additional 26,458 shares during the last quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 11.1% in the third quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 200,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $24,012,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 2,205.8% during the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 14,388 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,727,000 after acquiring an additional 13,764 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth about $229,000. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter worth about $420,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Company Profile

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.