Western Digital’s (WDC) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Wedbush reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $60.00 price objective on the data storage provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lowered their price target on Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Western Digital in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.65.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $44.69 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.05. Western Digital has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. The company had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during 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 quarterly revenue was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Versant Capital Management Inc increased 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 purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 34.1% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. 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.