Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Lowered to Hold Rating by Benchmark

Benchmark lowered shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $70.00 price objective on the data storage provider’s stock.

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

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $59.62 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $67.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.50. The firm has a market cap 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.97) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. This trade represents a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 6.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 184,107 shares of company stock valued at $13,042,381. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 9.3% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,745 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in Western Digital by 20.0% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 9,562 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,591 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 123.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 41,028 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,802,000 after purchasing an additional 22,670 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Western Digital in the third quarter worth $183,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 13.2% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,285 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,348,000 after acquiring an additional 2,371 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.