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

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by Wedbush in a report issued on Thursday,RTT News reports. They presently have a $95.00 target price on the data storage provider’s stock. Wedbush’s target price indicates a potential upside of 45.86% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on WDC. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays cut 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.21.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $65.13 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $65.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.52. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $52.77 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.52 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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 16.13%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Western Digital will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,121.37. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,347 shares of company stock worth $93,027. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Beta Wealth Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2,352.8% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 8,070 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,580 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 52,068 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $3,105,000 after acquiring an additional 4,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 21,247 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,398,000 after acquiring an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.