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

Stock analysts at China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $193.00 price target on the data storage provider’s stock. China Renaissance’s target price suggests a potential upside of 14.28% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $170.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $125.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.70.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $168.89 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $57.74 billion, a PE ratio of 24.58, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Western Digital has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $178.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $142.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.99.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.69, for a total value of $3,013,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 645,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,265,422.23. This trade represents a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.42, for a total value of $277,956.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,524.46. This represents a 31.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,369 shares of company stock valued at $4,013,785. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 124.5% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its stake in Western Digital by 551.4% during the third quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Western Digital in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Westfuller Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 207.0% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 264 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.