Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Up 4.3% – Here’s Why

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)’s share price was up 4.3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $72.49 and last traded at $72.44. Approximately 2,024,851 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 6,027,998 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on WDC shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.71.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $24.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.06 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $66.73 and a 200 day moving average of $69.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. This represents a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 185,963 shares of company stock worth $13,154,039 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WDC. Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 124.2% in the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after buying an additional 11,860 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $18,917,000 after buying an additional 27,849 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 137.9% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,575 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,976,000 after buying an additional 25,262 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 19.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 291,777 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $19,925,000 after buying an additional 47,965 shares during the period. Finally, Ghisallo Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at $13,260,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

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.