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

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

WDC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.71.

Western Digital Trading Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $71.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $24.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.06 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $66.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.09. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $46.42 and a 1 year high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued 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 company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.97) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Western Digital will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total value of $46,053.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,020,121.37. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total transaction of $5,443,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 821,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,633,905.40. This trade represents a 8.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 185,963 shares of company stock valued at $13,154,039 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in 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 during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 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.