Insider Selling: Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) SVP Sells $46,053.42 in Stock

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Western Digital Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of WDC opened at $71.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.06 and a beta of 1.40. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $46.42 and a 1-year high of $81.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.09.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.97) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Western Digital by 28.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,619 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 124.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after buying an additional 11,860 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $18,917,000 after buying an additional 27,849 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 291,777 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $19,925,000 after buying an additional 47,965 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 137.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,575 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,976,000 after buying an additional 25,262 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.71.

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.