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

Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and sixteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $87.71.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $71.07 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $67.54 and its 200 day moving average is $69.03. Western Digital has a twelve month low of $46.75 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $24.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.81 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,723.52. This represents a 6.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $5,274,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 184,107 shares of company stock worth $13,042,381. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 3.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $926,879,000 after buying an additional 423,651 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,921,608 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $539,355,000 after acquiring an additional 76,781 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $253,453,000 after purchasing an additional 732,344 shares during the period. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 13.2% during the third quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,287,400 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $224,497,000 after purchasing an additional 383,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in Western Digital by 25.7% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $218,034,000 after purchasing an additional 651,847 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

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.