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

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target lowered by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $85.00 to $83.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 16.20% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on WDC. UBS Group boosted their price target on Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.74.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $71.43 on Tuesday. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $71.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $61.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 1.54.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.18. Western Digital had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 20.58%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $548,354.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 605,481 shares in the company, valued at $29,178,129.39. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total value of $94,887.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 40,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,200,084.32. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,938,495 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,736,003,000 after buying an additional 478,728 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $520,450,000 after acquiring an additional 823,656 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 130.0% during the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,029,359 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $203,337,000 after purchasing an additional 2,842,822 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,592,516 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $273,852,000 after purchasing an additional 881,088 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.5% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $139,476,000 after purchasing an additional 52,140 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is 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.