Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

WDC has been the topic of several other research reports. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Western Digital from $74.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Western Digital from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.21.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.5 %

Western Digital stock traded up $0.65 during trading on Monday, hitting $44.31. The company had a trading volume of 5,619,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,959,246. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.98. Western Digital has a 1-year low of $39.42 and a 1-year high of $81.55. The stock has a market cap of $15.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 1.42.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. As a group, analysts expect that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $352,572,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at about $94,181,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,531,876,000 after buying an additional 1,439,149 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $68,950,000. Finally, Atalan Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,612,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.