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

Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seventeen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $84.24.

WDC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Western Digital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 6th.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC opened at $69.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $22.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.97 and a beta of 1.39. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $35.62 and a 12-month high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The data storage provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.17. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 2.63% and a negative net margin of 3.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.77 billion. Research analysts predict that Western Digital will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 417 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $27,059.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,873,374.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,051,021.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 92,955 shares of company stock valued at $6,327,560. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth 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.