Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Earns “Buy” Rating from Rosenblatt Securities

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Rosenblatt Securities in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $115.00 price target on the data storage provider’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 73.40% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Summit Insights lowered Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup reduced their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded Western Digital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 6th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.95.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $66.32 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $22.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.44 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.73. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $35.62 and a 52 week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The data storage provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 3.75% and a negative return on equity of 2.63%. Equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 12,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.09, for a total transaction of $693,871.86. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,331,098.17. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 92,955 shares of company stock valued at $6,327,560 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth $29,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.