Cantor Fitzgerald Reiterates Overweight Rating for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $95.00 price target on the data storage provider’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 45.86% from the stock’s previous close.

WDC has been the topic of several other research reports. BNP Paribas decreased their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.21.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $65.13 on Thursday. 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 $52.77 and a 12 month high of $81.55. The stock has a market cap of $22.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50 day moving average is $65.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.52.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 16.13%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 1,347 shares of company stock valued at $93,027 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,929 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,416 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in Western Digital by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 932 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

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.