Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Receives $78.32 Average PT from Brokerages

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-three analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eighteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $78.32.

Several analysts have issued reports on WDC shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Western Digital from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James downgraded Western Digital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Benchmark raised Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC stock traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $73.54. The company had a trading volume of 3,445,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,864,011. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.93 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.86. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $35.62 and a 12 month high of $76.92. The firm's fifty day moving average is $69.30 and its 200 day moving average is $58.61.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 13.75% and a negative net margin of 12.87%. Western Digital's revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.57) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital will post -1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 416 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.88, for a total value of $29,902.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,179,473.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 416 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.88, for a total transaction of $29,902.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,179,473.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,507 shares of company stock valued at $248,355. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WDC. Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $212,900,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $150,958,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Western Digital by 1,089.7% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,071,600 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $73,126,000 after acquiring an additional 981,527 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,466,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 7.0% in the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 13,361,999 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $609,708,000 after acquiring an additional 870,971 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.