Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $85.95.

Several brokerages have weighed in on WDC. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, November 29th.

Western Digital Trading Down 1.2 %

WDC opened at $64.06 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.15 billion, a PE ratio of 37.68 and a beta of 1.43. Western Digital has a one year low of $48.96 and a one year high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $65.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.93.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the prior year, the company posted ($1.97) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 821,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,633,905.40. This represents a 8.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total transaction of $139,390.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,723.52. This represents a 6.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 109,107 shares of company stock valued at $7,768,381. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 278.9% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Western Digital during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2,184.2% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.