Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) SVP Gene M. Zamiska Sells 416 Shares

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.88, for a total value of $29,902.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,179,473.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $75.74 on Thursday. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $35.62 and a fifty-two week high of $76.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.80 and a beta of 1.53. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $69.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.72.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 12.87% and a negative return on equity of 13.75%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.57) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post -1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kodai Capital Management LP bought a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $212,900,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $150,958,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Western Digital by 1,089.7% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,071,600 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $73,126,000 after purchasing an additional 981,527 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $48,466,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 7.0% in the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 13,361,999 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $609,708,000 after purchasing an additional 870,971 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James lowered Western Digital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $65.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.32.

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.