Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in a report released on Wednesday. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

WDC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.05.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $50.16 on Wednesday. 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 has a 1-year low of $39.58 and a 1-year high of $61.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s 50-day moving average is $63.87 and its 200 day moving average is $65.41.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted 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%. Research analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $352,572,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,181,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,531,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,149 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,950,000. Finally, Atalan Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,612,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.