Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Updates Q4 Earnings Guidance

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) updated its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $0.90-1.20 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.89. The company issued revenue guidance of $3.6-3.8 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $3.71 billion.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WDC shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James lowered shares of Western Digital from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $73.72.

Western Digital Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Western Digital stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Thursday, hitting $69.44. 8,149,854 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,006,783. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $64.46 and its 200 day moving average is $54.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $32.01 and a 12 month high of $76.92.

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. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.45% and a negative net margin of 19.90%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.57) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Western Digital will post -2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Western Digital news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

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.