David Goeckeler Sells 75,000 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock

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

Western Digital Stock Down 1.5 %

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

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,579,938 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,020,431,000 after buying an additional 215,207 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 2.7% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 7,857,586 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $595,369,000 after acquiring an additional 206,756 shares during the period. Kodai Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $212,900,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Western Digital by 5.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,881,847 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $218,400,000 after purchasing an additional 143,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Western Digital by 39.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,861,229 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $216,795,000 after purchasing an additional 810,977 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Western Digital from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Summit Insights lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.24.

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.