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

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seventeen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $84.24.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 6th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 15th.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $68.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.75. Western Digital has a 1-year low of $35.62 and a 1-year high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $23.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.74 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $134,391.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,019,957.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 92,955 shares of company stock valued at $6,327,560 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $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.