Cantor Fitzgerald Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $95.00 price objective on the data storage provider’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price objective points to a potential upside of 39.73% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on WDC. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.21.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC stock traded up $3.53 on Monday, hitting $67.99. 2,481,611 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,194,244. The firm has a market cap of $23.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16 and a beta of 1.44. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $52.77 and a 52 week high of $81.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.14. 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 (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total value of $46,053.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,347 shares of company stock worth $93,027 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Aigen Investment Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 124.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after buying an additional 11,860 shares during the period. Avala Global LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. Avala Global LP now owns 1,147,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $78,376,000 after buying an additional 377,500 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 291,777 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $19,925,000 after buying an additional 47,965 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $18,917,000 after buying an additional 27,849 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 137.9% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,575 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,976,000 after buying an additional 25,262 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.