Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Now Covered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in a report released on Tuesday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

WDC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday, February 10th. Benchmark lowered Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays decreased their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Western Digital from $74.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.21.

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC opened at $31.55 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $50.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $10.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.51 and a beta of 1.39. Western Digital has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts predict that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,415 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in Western Digital by 22.6% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 932 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 177 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.