Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Rating Lowered to Market Perform at Raymond James

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) was downgraded by investment analysts at Raymond James from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.72.

Western Digital Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of WDC opened at $69.92 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.81 and a beta of 1.56. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $76.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.57.

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

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Western Digital news, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,577 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 0.5% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 57,050 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,893,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 79.1% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 747 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 121.7% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 614 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 0.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 37,156 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,695,000 after buying an additional 338 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.