Wedbush Reaffirms "Outperform" Rating for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating restated by Wedbush in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $85.00 target price on the data storage provider's stock. Wedbush's price target would suggest a potential upside of 19.11% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on WDC. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays increased their price target on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.25.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.8 %

NASDAQ WDC traded up $1.92 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $71.36. 13,864,848 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,097,184. The stock has a market cap of $23.25 billion, a PE ratio of -10.01 and a beta of 1.57. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $32.01 and a 52 week high of $76.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $65.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.45% and a negative net margin of 19.90%. Western Digital's quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.57) EPS. Analysts forecast that Western Digital will post -2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 30.3% during the 4th quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 103,750 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,433,000 after buying an additional 24,100 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,028,114 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $138,173,000 after purchasing an additional 66,680 shares during the period. Numerai GP LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth about $884,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,415,000. Finally, Sora Investors LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 441.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sora Investors LLC now owns 325,000 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $14,830,000 after buying an additional 265,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

About Western Digital

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.