Western Digital’s (WDC) Hold (C) Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings restated their hold (c) rating on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in a report published on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

WDC has been the topic of several other research reports. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Western Digital from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Western Digital from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Western Digital from $85.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.84.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $129.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Western Digital has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $137.40. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $104.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.30. The firm has a market cap of $44.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.77.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%.The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total transaction of $1,024,159.47. Following the sale, the insider owned 151,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,687,602.84. This represents a 6.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 8,621 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.90, for a total transaction of $654,333.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 594,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,148,052.40. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,730 shares of company stock valued at $3,921,594 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 124.5% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 102.5% in the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 399 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 86.9% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 441 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors 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.