Benchmark Downgrades Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) to Hold

Benchmark downgraded shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $70.00 target price on the data storage provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas dropped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.33.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $59.62 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $67.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.07 and a beta of 1.42. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $48.96 and a 12-month high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.97) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Western Digital will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $5,274,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. This represents a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total transaction of $139,390.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,723.52. This represents 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 worth $13,042,381 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 5.4% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,929 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 932 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 15,962 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 10,344 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $784,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,891 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

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.