Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Rating Upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a $57.00 price objective on the data storage provider's stock, up from their prior price objective of $45.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target suggests a potential upside of 29.96% from the stock's current price.

WDC has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays dropped their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $76.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.53.

Western Digital Trading Up 8.0 %

Shares of WDC stock opened at $43.86 on Thursday. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.65 and a 200-day moving average of $57.44. The firm has a market cap of $15.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.44 and a beta of 1.39. 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 (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 analysts' expectations of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This trade represents a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,131 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,691,000 after purchasing an additional 11,013 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Western Digital by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 841,700 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $50,191,000 after buying an additional 50,188 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 390,826 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $23,305,000 after buying an additional 15,189 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 83.9% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 31,634 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,886,000 after acquiring an additional 14,432 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 53.3% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 99,444 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $5,930,000 after purchasing an additional 34,579 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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