Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) CEO Sells $5,274,000.00 in Stock

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Western Digital Stock Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ WDC opened at $69.42 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $64.09 and its 200 day moving average is $69.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.67 billion, a PE ratio of -13.97 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Western Digital Co. has a 1 year low of $35.62 and a 1 year high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The data storage provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 2.63% and a negative net margin of 3.75%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter worth $30,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the subject of several research reports. Wedbush increased their price target on Western Digital from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on Western Digital from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.24.

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.