Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Rating Lowered by Raymond James

Raymond James downgraded shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note published on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on WDC. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $68.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Western Digital from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Western Digital from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $73.72.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $69.55 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $64.46 and its 200-day moving average is $54.68. Western Digital has a 52-week low of $31.97 and a 52-week high of $76.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a market cap of $22.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.75 and a beta of 1.57.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported ($0.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.30) by $0.61. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 19.90% and a negative return on equity of 19.45%. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.69) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post -2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 0.6% in the fourth 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 period. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 870,971 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS increased its stake in Western Digital by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 5,587,698 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $292,628,000 after purchasing an additional 443,903 shares in the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,900,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Western Digital by 2.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,268,764 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $149,154,000 after purchasing an additional 92,009 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.