Cantor Fitzgerald Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)

Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $95.00 price objective on the data storage provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.42.

Western Digital Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $67.28 on Monday. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $52.77 and a 1 year high of $81.55. The firm has a market cap of $23.40 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.18.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. Analysts expect that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,347 shares of company stock valued at $93,027. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WDC. Westpac Banking Corp boosted its stake in Western Digital by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,776 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. Bryce Point Capital LLC bought a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth about $510,000. Ardmore Road Asset Management LP bought a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth about $8,944,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Western Digital by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,588 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $520,450,000 after purchasing an additional 823,656 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.