Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $64.15.

WDC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Western Digital from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $76.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Benchmark upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 278.9% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 34.1% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Down 1.6 %

WDC opened at $44.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $15.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 1.42. 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 1 year low of $28.83 and a 1 year high of $81.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $40.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.74.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.58%.

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.