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

Wedbush reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in a report issued on Friday,RTT News reports. The brokerage currently has a $95.00 target price on the data storage provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on WDC. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th. Summit Insights lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.71.

Western Digital Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $72.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.23 billion, a PE ratio of 42.94 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $46.47 and a 12-month high of $81.55.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,169 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $134,391.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,019,957.96. The trade was a 6.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $2,092,463.67. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,208,417.98. The trade was a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 185,963 shares of company stock valued at $13,154,039. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 2,184.2% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is 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.