Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Short Interest Update

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 21,740,000 shares, an increase of 20.1% from the November 15th total of 18,100,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,990,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on WDC shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, November 29th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.71.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $65.12 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $67.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.74. The company has a market cap of $22.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.31 and a beta of 1.42. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $48.96 and a 12 month high of $81.55.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,140,723.52. The trade was a 6.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of Western Digital 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. The trade was a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 184,107 shares of company stock valued at $13,042,381 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WDC. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $926,879,000 after buying an additional 423,651 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,921,608 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $539,355,000 after acquiring an additional 76,781 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 24.6% in the third 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 worth $253,453,000 after purchasing an additional 732,344 shares during the last quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,287,400 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $224,497,000 after purchasing an additional 383,390 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 651,847 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Company Profile

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.