Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $80.21.

WDC has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark cut Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on Western Digital from $60.45 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday, February 10th.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $43.66 on Tuesday. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $39.42 and a 1 year high of $81.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $57.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.11. The company has a market cap of $15.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.40 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. Sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,929 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,416 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $144,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,415 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its stake in Western Digital by 22.6% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 932 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during 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.