Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Lifted to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on WDC. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $68.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.76.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $70.83 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.25 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $65.39 and its 200 day moving average is $55.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Western Digital has a 52-week low of $32.01 and a 52-week high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 12.87% and a negative return on equity of 13.75%. Western Digital’s revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.57) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital will post -2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 121.7% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 614 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Western Digital by 79.1% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 747 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.