Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Earns Overweight Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

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

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on WDC. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Summit Insights cut Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.71.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.1 %

Western Digital stock opened at $72.99 on Tuesday. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $46.47 and a 12 month high of $81.55. The company has a market capitalization of $25.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.08 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. This represents a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total value of $2,092,463.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 185,963 shares of company stock worth $13,154,039. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter worth about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 2,184.2% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 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.