Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and sixteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $77.25.

WDC has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Western Digital from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday. Mizuho lifted their target price on Western Digital from $66.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. 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 report on Wednesday, April 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital 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 owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The sale 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Western Digital by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 103,750 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $5,433,000 after purchasing an additional 24,100 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Western Digital by 2.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,028,114 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $138,173,000 after purchasing an additional 66,680 shares in the last quarter. Numerai GP LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the third quarter valued at about $884,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,415,000. Finally, Sora Investors LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 441.7% during the third quarter. Sora Investors LLC now owns 325,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $14,830,000 after purchasing an additional 265,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $71.36 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.96. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $32.01 and a 52 week high of $76.92. The company has a market capitalization of $23.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.01 and a beta of 1.57. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.45% and a negative net margin of 19.90%. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.57) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Western Digital will post -2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.