Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and thirteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $73.68.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Benchmark upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wedbush reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction 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 $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 68.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 20,570 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 8,378 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Western Digital by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,501 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $3,312,000 after acquiring an additional 8,217 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 62.8% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 27,282 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,863,000 after purchasing an additional 10,524 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,410 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $6,925,000 after purchasing an additional 5,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,921,608 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $539,355,000 after purchasing an additional 76,781 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $35.52. 2,662,879 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,333,002. The company has a market cap of $12.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.46 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company's 50-day moving average price is $47.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.47. Western Digital has a 52-week low of $28.83 and a 52-week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. On average, analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

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.