Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Upgraded at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $57.00 price target on the data storage provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $45.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 27.55% from the stock’s previous close.

WDC has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Western Digital in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.65.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $44.69 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.13. The company has a market capitalization of $15.54 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 1.39. Western Digital has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. The company had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other 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 owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,531,876,000 after buying an additional 1,439,149 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $520,450,000 after acquiring an additional 823,656 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $352,572,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,592,516 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $273,852,000 after purchasing an additional 881,088 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Western Digital by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,397,671 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $202,603,000 after purchasing an additional 478,269 shares in 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.