Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $84.21.

WDC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on Western Digital from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th.

Western Digital Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of WDC stock opened at $65.13 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $52.77 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.52 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.52.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a return on equity of 16.13% and a net margin of 9.95%. Equities analysts expect that Western Digital will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,347 shares of company stock worth $93,027. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Western Digital by 278.9% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 2,184.2% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.