Western Digital’s (WDC) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Wedbush

Wedbush reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in a research note released on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $85.00 target price on the data storage provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WDC. TD Cowen increased their target price on Western Digital from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Benchmark upgraded Western Digital from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Western Digital from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Western Digital from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Western Digital from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $77.76.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $69.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.06 and a beta of 1.56. Western Digital has a 52-week low of $32.01 and a 52-week high of $76.92. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $65.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.86.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 13.75% and a negative net margin of 12.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.57) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Western Digital will post -2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 37.3% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 843 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,577 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 0.5% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 57,050 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,893,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 79.1% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 747 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 0.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 37,156 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Company Profile

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.