Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

Stock analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in a research note issued on Tuesday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Western Digital from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.42.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $68.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 1.44. Western Digital has a 1-year low of $52.77 and a 1-year high of $81.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $64.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.27.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,020,121.37. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 1,347 shares of company stock worth $93,027 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,929 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $200,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 7.0% during the 4th 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 during the period. BNP Paribas grew its holdings in Western Digital by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,415 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in Western Digital by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 932 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.