China Renaissance Begins Coverage on Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)

China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $193.00 price target on the data storage provider’s stock. China Renaissance’s price objective points to a potential upside of 19.88% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wedbush upped their price objective on Western Digital from $90.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Western Digital from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup increased their price target on Western Digital from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen raised their price target on Western Digital from $90.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $170.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.70.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $161.00 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $140.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.85. Western Digital has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $178.45. The stock has a market cap of $55.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Western Digital had a net margin of 21.37% and a return on equity of 30.89%. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts predict that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 2,801 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.57, for a total value of $449,756.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 144,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,217,779.72. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.69, for a total transaction of $3,013,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 645,467 shares in the company, valued at $97,265,422.23. This trade represents a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 26,369 shares of company stock worth $4,013,785 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter valued at approximately $791,317,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth $220,680,000. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 4,923.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $409,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,339,225 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in Western Digital by 1,926.3% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $195,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 130.0% during the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,029,359 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $203,337,000 after acquiring an additional 2,842,822 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.