Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading 4.3% Higher – Time to Buy?

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday. BNP Paribas decreased their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Summit Insights downgraded Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.71.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.06. The stock has a market cap of $25.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.54 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 185,620 shares of company stock valued at $13,127,932. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Western Digital by 28.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,619 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP raised its position in Western Digital by 124.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 11,860 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Western Digital by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $18,917,000 after purchasing an additional 27,849 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 137.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,575 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,976,000 after acquiring an additional 25,262 shares during the period. Finally, Ghisallo Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $13,260,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

About Western Digital

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.