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

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Wedbush in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $85.00 target price on the data storage provider’s stock. Wedbush’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 19.11% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Raymond James cut Western Digital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Susquehanna upped 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Western Digital from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.25.

Western Digital Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $71.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.36 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $65.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.03. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $32.01 and a 1 year high of $76.92.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related 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 approximately $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 121.7% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 614 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Western Digital by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 747 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 330 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.