Analyst: Conditions improving for Western Digital

Industry conditions seem to be improving for hard disk drive maker Western Digital Corp., a Robert W. Baird analyst said Friday, raising his target price on the company's shares.

Analyst Jayson Noland kept a "Neutral" rating on the stock and boosted his target price to $40 from $32.

"We continue to believe WDC is executing very well in a difficult environment, though we hesitate to upgrade given the choppy macro environment and recent strong stock performance relative to (rival Seagate Technology)," the analyst wrote in a note to investors.

Western Digital's shares are up more than 25 percent since the start of the year, while Seagate's are down more than 20 percent.

The Lake Forest, Calif.-based company's shares fell $1.43, or 3.6 percent, to $37.82 in afternoon trading as the broader market tumbled with the Dow falling below 11,900.

In the past 52 weeks, Western Digital's shares have traded between $18.34 and $40.