Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 29,570,000 shares, an increase of 22.2% from the January 31st total of 24,190,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,480,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WDC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,531,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,149 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 3.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $926,879,000 after acquiring an additional 423,651 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $520,450,000 after acquiring an additional 823,656 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $352,572,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,592,516 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $273,852,000 after purchasing an additional 881,088 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $41.45 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $62.44 and its 200-day moving average is $64.86. The stock has a market cap of $14.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.87 and a beta of 1.42. Western Digital has a 1-year low of $39.58 and a 1-year high of $61.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted 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 return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on WDC. Citigroup raised their price objective on Western Digital from $60.45 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.05.

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.