Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Rating Reiterated by Wedbush

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Wedbush in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $85.00 price target on the data storage provider’s stock. Wedbush’s price target suggests a potential upside of 21.72% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on WDC. Benchmark upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday. 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 note on Friday. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $68.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.00.

Western Digital Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ WDC traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $69.83. 5,434,189 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,984,120. The stock has a market cap of $22.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.75 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.78. Western Digital has a 1-year low of $32.01 and a 1-year high of $76.92. 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 (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 19.90% and a negative return on equity of 19.45%. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.57) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Western Digital will post -2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Trading of Western Digital

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 37.3% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 843 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

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.