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

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

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas lowered their price objective on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Summit Insights cut Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Six research 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.71.

Western Digital Stock Up 5.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $73.02 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.06. 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 has a 52-week low of $46.28 and a 52-week high of $81.55. The stock has a market cap of $25.24 billion, a PE ratio of 42.95 and a beta of 1.40.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. 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 previous year, the business posted ($1.97) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $134,391.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,019,957.96. This represents a 6.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 821,630 shares in the company, valued at $59,633,905.40. The trade was a 8.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 186,278 shares of company stock valued at $13,173,985 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in Western Digital by 28,925.8% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 2,202,190 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $166,860,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194,603 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Western Digital by 247.0% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,446,509 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $109,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,658 shares during the period. Sachem Head Capital Management LP grew its stake in Western Digital by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP now owns 2,030,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $138,629,000 after purchasing an additional 871,500 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Western Digital by 39.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,861,229 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $216,795,000 after purchasing an additional 810,977 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $253,453,000 after purchasing an additional 732,344 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.