Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday morning.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Western Digital from $60.45 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Benchmark downgraded Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.21.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $42.62 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.71. Western Digital has a one year low of $39.42 and a one year high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 1.42.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,575.36. This trade represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 278.9% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 2,184.2% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% 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.