Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) CEO Sells 75,000 Shares

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total transaction of $5,443,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 821,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,633,905.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

David Goeckeler also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, September 26th, David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of Western Digital stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC opened at $67.02 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $65.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.17 billion, a PE ratio of 39.42 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $38.43 and a 52 week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company’s revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.97) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Western Digital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 6th. BNP Paribas reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.09.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $437,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in Western Digital by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 822,281 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $56,112,000 after purchasing an additional 64,980 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 14.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,688 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at $236,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.