Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Earns Neutral Rating from Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in a research report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $70.00 target price on the data storage provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen began coverage on Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.11.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.7%

WDC opened at $66.14 on Thursday. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $80.09. The company has a market cap of $23.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.09.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.30. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 20.58% and a net margin of 13.33%. The firm’s revenue was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 7.58%.

Western Digital declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the data storage provider to buy up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $548,354.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 605,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total transaction of $94,887.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 40,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,200,084.32. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in Western Digital during the first quarter worth $29,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Western Digital by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Elequin Capital LP bought a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 242.2% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is 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.