Investors Purchase High Volume of Western Digital Call Options (NASDAQ:WDC)

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors purchased 44,628 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 69% compared to the typical daily volume of 26,454 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,131 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after buying an additional 11,013 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 841,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $50,191,000 after purchasing an additional 50,188 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 390,826 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $23,305,000 after purchasing an additional 15,189 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 83.9% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 31,634 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 14,432 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 99,444 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $5,930,000 after purchasing an additional 34,579 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of WDC opened at $41.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.50 billion, a PE ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 1.42. The business’s 50 day moving average is $62.03 and its 200 day moving average is $64.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $39.58 and a 12-month high of $61.16.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. Research analysts expect that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Benchmark cut Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.47.

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.