Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Reaches New 52-Week High at $45.65

Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $45.65 and last traded at $45.43, with a volume of 351709 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $45.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WDC shares. TheStreet raised Western Digital from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Western Digital from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Western Digital from $29.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Western Digital from $41.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.39.

Western Digital Stock Up 2.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.23. The company has a market cap of $14.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.50 and a beta of 1.67.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 31st. The data storage provider reported ($1.98) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.30) by $0.32. The company had revenue of $2.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.53 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 11.96% and a negative net margin of 13.85%. Western Digital’s revenue was down 41.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post -5.38 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in Western Digital by 75.3% in the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 661 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter worth $26,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter worth $27,000. CI Investments Inc. increased its position in Western Digital by 114.4% in the fourth quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 879 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in Western Digital by 1,885.7% in the first quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 973 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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 computing devices, such as desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), smart video systems, gaming consoles, and set top boxes; 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; and flash-based memory wafers.