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

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 33,201 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 30% compared to the typical daily volume of 25,579 call options.

Western Digital Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $71.50 on Thursday. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $46.42 and a 12 month high of $81.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.72 billion, a PE ratio of 41.82 and a beta of 1.40.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.97) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Western Digital will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday. Six equities 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,169 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 821,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,633,905.40. The trade was a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 185,963 shares of company stock valued at $13,154,039. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 3.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $926,879,000 after buying an additional 423,651 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,921,608 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $539,355,000 after buying an additional 76,781 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in Western Digital by 2.7% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 7,857,586 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $595,369,000 after acquiring an additional 206,756 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 24.6% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 732,344 shares during the period. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 13.2% in the third quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,287,400 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $224,497,000 after acquiring an additional 383,390 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.