Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $77.76.

Several analysts have issued reports on WDC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Argus raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $68.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday.

Western Digital Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $70.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $22.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.19 and a beta of 1.57. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $32.01 and a 12 month high of $76.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $65.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.43.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 12.87% and a negative return on equity of 13.75%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.57) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital will post -2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 103,750 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $5,433,000 after buying an additional 24,100 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 2.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,028,114 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $138,173,000 after buying an additional 66,680 shares during the period. Numerai GP LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth $884,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at $1,415,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Western Digital by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 81,346 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $4,260,000 after purchasing an additional 15,285 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.