Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Benchmark

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) was downgraded by Benchmark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $70.00 price objective on the data storage provider’s stock. Benchmark’s price target suggests a potential upside of 16.20% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on WDC. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of WDC opened at $60.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $20.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.44 and a beta of 1.42. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $48.96 and a 1 year high of $81.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $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.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.97) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total value of $46,053.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $5,443,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 821,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,633,905.40. This represents a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 184,107 shares of company stock worth $13,042,381 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $926,879,000 after purchasing an additional 423,651 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Western Digital by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,921,608 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $539,355,000 after acquiring an additional 76,781 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 24.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $253,453,000 after acquiring an additional 732,344 shares during the period. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 13.2% in the third quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,287,400 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $224,497,000 after acquiring an additional 383,390 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $218,034,000 after acquiring an additional 651,847 shares during the last quarter. 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.