Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Western Digital Call Options (NASDAQ:WDC)

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 33,201 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 30% compared to the average daily volume of 25,579 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. BNP Paribas cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,169 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,019,957.96. This represents a 6.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction 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 $63,051,021.60. This represents a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 185,963 shares of company stock valued at $13,154,039 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth $29,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 2,184.2% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Trading Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ WDC opened at $71.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $24.72 billion, a PE ratio of 41.82 and a beta of 1.40. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $46.42 and a 52 week high of $81.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.07.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.97) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.