Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $66.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Benchmark raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.76.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $70.83 on Monday. Western Digital has a one year low of $32.01 and a one year high of $76.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $65.39 and a 200-day moving average of $55.26. The company has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a PE ratio of -14.25 and a beta of 1.56.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 12.87% and a negative return on equity of 13.75%. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.57) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital will post -2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Western Digital news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

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.