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

Wedbush reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $95.00 target price on the data storage provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on WDC. Mizuho dropped their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Western Digital from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Western Digital from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.42.

Western Digital Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of WDC opened at $67.28 on Monday. 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 has a one year low of $52.77 and a one year high of $81.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $64.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.18.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. Equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,347 shares of company stock valued at $93,027. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,131 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,691,000 after purchasing an additional 11,013 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 841,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $50,191,000 after purchasing an additional 50,188 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP increased its holdings in Western Digital by 124.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 11,860 shares during the period. Avala Global LP increased its holdings in Western Digital by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. Avala Global LP now owns 1,147,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $78,376,000 after purchasing an additional 377,500 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Western Digital by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 291,777 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $19,925,000 after purchasing an additional 47,965 shares during the period. 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.