Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $71.00 at Bank of America

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its target price raised by equities researchers at Bank of America from $62.00 to $71.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 24.61% from the company’s current price.

WDC has been the subject of several other reports. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $76.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.37.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.8%

NASDAQ:WDC traded up $1.53 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $56.98. 891,268 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,427,517. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57 and a beta of 1.49. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $81.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $43.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.08.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.30. Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the data storage provider to buy up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $548,354.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total value of $94,887.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,564 shares of company stock valued at $663,018. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 77.2% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 3,338 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter worth about $7,641,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 229.7% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Bluefin Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth about $649,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 1,882.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 185,889 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $7,515,000 after purchasing an additional 176,514 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.