Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Rating Increased to Buy at Benchmark

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) was upgraded by research analysts at Benchmark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $85.00 price objective on the data storage provider’s stock. Benchmark’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 19.11% from the company’s previous close.

WDC has been the topic of several other research reports. Rosenblatt Securities raised Western Digital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James cut Western Digital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Western Digital from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.25.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $71.36 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $23.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.36 and a beta of 1.57. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.03. Western Digital has a 52-week low of $32.01 and a 52-week high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 13.67% and a negative net margin of 12.87%. Western Digital’s revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($1.57) EPS. Analysts expect that Western Digital will post -2.21 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter worth $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 121.7% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 614 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in Western Digital by 79.1% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 747 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.