Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Lifted to Buy at Benchmark

Benchmark upgraded shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $85.00 target price on the data storage provider’s stock.

WDC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Western Digital from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James lowered Western Digital from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Western Digital from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $77.25.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of WDC opened at $71.36 on Friday. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $32.01 and a 52 week high of $76.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $65.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.96.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 13.67% and a negative net margin of 12.87%. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.57) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Western Digital will post -2.21 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was 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 directly owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at $212,900,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at $150,958,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at $48,466,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 13,361,999 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $609,708,000 after buying an additional 870,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $37,260,000. 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.