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

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $95.00 target price on the data storage provider’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 46.06% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on WDC. Bank of America decreased their price target on Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $81.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Benchmark lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.65.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of WDC opened at $65.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $52.76 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $65.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.31. The firm has a market cap of $22.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.26 and a beta of 1.43.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted 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 net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.97) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total value of $2,092,463.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,208,417.98. The trade was a 18.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total transaction of $5,443,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 821,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,633,905.40. The trade was a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 109,107 shares of company stock valued at $7,768,381. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Western Digital by 278.9% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter worth $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter valued at $42,000. Hedge funds and other 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.