Raymond James Lowers Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) to Market Perform

Raymond James cut shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

WDC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Western Digital from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Western Digital from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $73.72.

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC opened at $69.55 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $22.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.75 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.68. Western Digital has a 1-year low of $31.97 and a 1-year high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported ($0.69) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.30) by $0.61. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.45% and a negative net margin of 19.90%. The company’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.69) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post -2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 13.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,186 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 20.8% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 47.6% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,918 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,552,000 after buying an additional 18,044 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 5.3% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 137,097 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $6,256,000 after buying an additional 6,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter valued at approximately $228,000. 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.