Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Cut to $70.00 by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its target price trimmed by The Goldman Sachs Group from $81.00 to $70.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on WDC. Benchmark downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group cut their target price on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen 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 a consensus price target of $85.86.

Western Digital Trading Down 1.9 %

WDC opened at $62.82 on Friday. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $49.68 and a 12 month high of $81.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $65.95 and a 200 day moving average of $66.91. The firm has a market cap of $21.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.95 and a beta of 1.43.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($1.97) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $2,092,463.67. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. This represents a 18.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total value of $139,390.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,140,723.52. This trade represents a 6.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 109,107 shares of company stock valued at $7,768,381. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth $29,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Western Digital by 278.9% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 2,184.2% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.