Citigroup Lowers Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target to $48.00

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its target price cut by research analysts at Citigroup from $64.00 to $48.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 33.59% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.16.

Western Digital Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $35.93 on Monday. Western Digital has a 52-week low of $28.83 and a 52-week high of $81.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.29 and a 200 day moving average of $59.47. 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 company has a market capitalization of $12.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.55 and a beta of 1.39.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,416 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $704,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,415 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Beta Wealth Group Inc. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 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.