Western Digital’s (WDC) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Wedbush

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by Wedbush in a research report issued on Friday,RTT News reports. They currently have a $95.00 target price on the data storage provider’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 30.15% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.71.

Western Digital Stock Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ WDC opened at $72.99 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $67.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $46.47 and a 52 week high of $81.55. The company has a market capitalization of $25.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.94 and a beta of 1.40.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.97) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total transaction of $139,390.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,140,723.52. This trade represents a 6.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,051,021.60. This represents a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 185,963 shares of company stock valued at $13,154,039 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Aigen Investment Management LP raised its position 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 valued at $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 11,860 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Western Digital by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $18,917,000 after purchasing an additional 27,849 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in Western Digital by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 291,777 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $19,925,000 after purchasing an additional 47,965 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 137.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,575 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,976,000 after purchasing an additional 25,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ghisallo Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at $13,260,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.