Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Up 4.3% – Here’s Why

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) shot up 4.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $72.49 and last traded at $72.44. 2,024,851 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 6,027,998 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on WDC. BNP Paribas cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.71.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $66.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.07. The firm has a market cap of $24.72 billion, a PE ratio of 42.06 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.97) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $134,391.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,019,957.96. This trade represents a 6.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $5,443,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 821,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,633,905.40. The trade was a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 185,963 shares of company stock worth $13,154,039 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WDC. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 241.8% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 670 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Western Digital by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,401 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 25.4% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,916 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its position in Western Digital by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 154,365 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $10,534,000 after acquiring an additional 21,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LBP AM SA acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,193,000. 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.