Western Digital’s (WDC) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $95.00 price target on the data storage provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on WDC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. BNP Paribas lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.42.

Western Digital Stock Down 2.4 %

Western Digital stock opened at $67.28 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $52.77 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $64.69 and its 200 day moving average is $65.18. The company has a market capitalization of $23.40 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02 and a beta of 1.44.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,347 shares of company stock worth $93,027. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 3.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 3.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $926,879,000 after purchasing an additional 423,651 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 10.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 823,656 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth about $352,572,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 24.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $253,453,000 after purchasing an additional 732,344 shares in 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.