Western Digital’s (WDC) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Cantor Fitzgerald

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

Several other analysts have also commented on WDC. Benchmark lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $81.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.65.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $65.04 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $52.76 and a 1-year high of $81.55. The company has a market cap of $22.48 billion, a PE ratio of 38.26 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.23.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results 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. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.97) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 6.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total value of $46,053.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $5,443,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 821,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,633,905.40. This trade represents a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 109,107 shares of company stock valued at $7,768,381. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,929 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $200,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 22.6% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 932 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 2.4% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,891 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $744,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Western Digital by 6.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,696 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.