Benchmark Downgrades Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) to Hold

Benchmark cut shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $70.00 target price on the data storage provider’s stock.

WDC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $60.24 on Thursday. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $48.96 and a 1 year high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market cap of $20.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.44 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $67.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.39.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($1.97) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Western Digital will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, 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 value of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total value of $139,390.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,140,723.52. The trade was a 6.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 184,107 shares of company stock valued at $13,042,381 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.