Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Upgraded to Buy by Benchmark

Benchmark upgraded shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $85.00 price objective on the data storage provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Western Digital in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued an outperform rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Western Digital from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Western Digital from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $77.25.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $71.36 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $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 1 year low of $32.01 and a 1 year high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results 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 12.87% and a negative return on equity of 13.67%. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.57) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post -2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

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 value of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the transaction, the director now 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Kodai Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth about $212,900,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $150,958,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,466,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 13,361,999 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $609,708,000 after purchasing an additional 870,971 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,260,000. Institutional investors 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.