Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Receives Outperform Rating from Wedbush

Wedbush reissued their outperform rating on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in a research report report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Wedbush currently has a $85.00 target price on the data storage provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Western Digital from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Western Digital in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued an outperform rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $77.25.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.8 %

Western Digital stock opened at $71.36 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $65.08 and a 200-day moving average of $54.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $32.01 and a 52 week high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 12.87% and a negative return on equity of 13.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.57) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital will post -2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,579,938 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,020,431,000 after purchasing an additional 215,207 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 7.0% during the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 13,361,999 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $609,708,000 after buying an additional 870,971 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 5,587,698 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $292,628,000 after acquiring an additional 443,903 shares in the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth about $212,900,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Western Digital by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,268,764 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $149,154,000 after acquiring an additional 92,009 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.