Benchmark Upgrades Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) to Buy

Benchmark upgraded shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $55.00 price objective on the data storage provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $60.45 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.00.

Western Digital Trading Down 1.3 %

Western Digital stock opened at $34.40 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $48.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. Research analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,531,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,149 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $520,450,000 after buying an additional 823,656 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at about $352,572,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 881,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,397,671 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $202,603,000 after acquiring an additional 478,269 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.