Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $87.71.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WDC shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 184,107 shares of company stock worth $13,042,381 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,929 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Western Digital by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 932 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 15,962 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 10,344 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $784,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,891 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC opened at $65.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.81 billion, a PE ratio of 38.82 and a beta of 1.42. The business’s 50-day moving average is $67.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.92. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $48.96 and a 1 year high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.97) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Company Profile

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.