Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Receives “Overweight” Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reissued their overweight rating on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $95.00 price target on the data storage provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on WDC. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.65.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC opened at $65.04 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.39. The firm has a market cap of $22.48 billion, a PE ratio of 38.26 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Western Digital has a 1-year low of $52.76 and a 1-year high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion during 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%. Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.97) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 6.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 821,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,633,905.40. This represents a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 109,107 shares of company stock worth $7,768,381. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Western Digital by 247.0% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,446,509 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $109,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,658 shares during the last quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP now owns 2,030,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $138,629,000 after purchasing an additional 871,500 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 24.6% during 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 last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in Western Digital by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $218,034,000 after buying an additional 651,847 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Western Digital by 304.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 709,386 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $53,750,000 after buying an additional 534,168 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently 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.