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

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by Wedbush in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,RTT News reports. They presently have a $95.00 price target on the data storage provider’s stock. Wedbush’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 45.86% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.21.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC opened at $65.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.52. Western Digital has a one year low of $52.77 and a one year high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a return on equity of 16.13% and a net margin of 9.95%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 1,347 shares of company stock worth $93,027 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sachem Head Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Western Digital by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP now owns 2,030,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $138,629,000 after purchasing an additional 871,500 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 24.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $253,453,000 after acquiring an additional 732,344 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 25.7% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $218,034,000 after acquiring an additional 651,847 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Western Digital by 3.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $926,879,000 after acquiring an additional 423,651 shares during the period. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,287,400 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $224,497,000 after purchasing an additional 383,390 shares in the last quarter. 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.