Wedbush Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)

Wedbush reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Wedbush currently has a $85.00 price target on the data storage provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Western Digital from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Western Digital from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Western Digital from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Western Digital from $68.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $77.25.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $71.36 on Friday. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $32.01 and a 12-month high of $76.92. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 13.67% and a negative net margin of 12.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.57) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Western Digital will post -2.21 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 37.3% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 843 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,577 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 0.5% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 57,050 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,893,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Western Digital by 79.1% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 747 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in Western Digital by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 37,156 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,695,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. 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.