Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $86.33.

A number of research firms have commented on WDC. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup dropped 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. BNP Paribas dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

Western Digital Trading Up 0.0 %

Western Digital stock opened at $59.63 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $20.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.08 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $66.39 and a 200-day moving average of $67.44. 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 has a one year low of $48.96 and a one year high of $81.55.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. This represents a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total value of $139,390.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,723.52. The trade was a 6.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 109,107 shares of company stock worth $7,768,381. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Western Digital during the third quarter worth $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 2,184.2% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. 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.