Gene M. Zamiska Sells 456 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 456 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.37, for a total transaction of $19,776.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 43,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,878,788.40. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $42.96 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $14.94 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.06. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $39.42 and a twelve month high of $61.16.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. Research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,531,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,149 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 3.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $926,879,000 after buying an additional 423,651 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $520,450,000 after buying an additional 823,656 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at about $352,572,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,592,516 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $273,852,000 after acquiring an additional 881,088 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.47.

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.