Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday.

WDC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Western Digital from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Western Digital from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Western Digital from $68.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $77.76.

Western Digital Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of WDC opened at $69.86 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $65.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.26. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $32.01 and a 12 month high of $76.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.86.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 13.75% and a negative net margin of 12.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.57) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post -2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,579,938 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,020,431,000 after buying an additional 215,207 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 7.0% during the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 13,361,999 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $609,708,000 after buying an additional 870,971 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 5,587,698 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $292,628,000 after buying an additional 443,903 shares during the period. Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $212,900,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,268,764 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $149,154,000 after buying an additional 92,009 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.