Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Research Coverage Started at China Renaissance

China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in a report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $193.00 target price on the data storage provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on WDC. Robert W. Baird set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Western Digital from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Western Digital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on Western Digital from $105.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.70.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $168.89 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $142.02 and a 200 day moving average of $97.32. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $178.45. The company has a market cap of $57.74 billion, a PE ratio of 24.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter. Western Digital had a net margin of 21.37% and a return on equity of 30.89%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 4th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.28%.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 2,801 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.57, for a total transaction of $449,756.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 144,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,217,779.72. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.42, for a total transaction of $277,956.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,524.46. This represents a 31.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,369 shares of company stock valued at $4,013,785. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $225,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 9.6% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 30,434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,938,000 after buying an additional 2,656 shares during the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 32.0% in the first quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 897,574 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $36,289,000 after buying an additional 217,574 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth approximately $233,000. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 118,888 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $7,594,000 after acquiring an additional 7,913 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by 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.