StockNews.com Lowers Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) to Sell

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on WDC. Benchmark upgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Western Digital from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays increased their target price on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America increased their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.09.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC traded down $0.85 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $75.77. The stock had a trading volume of 8,582,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,530,630. The business’s fifty day moving average is $74.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.29. Western Digital has a twelve month low of $35.62 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The company has a market cap of $24.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.25 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 13.75% and a negative net margin of 12.87%. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($1.57) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Western Digital will post -1.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 26,853 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.48, for a total transaction of $1,973,158.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 144,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,626,898.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 416 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.88, for a total transaction of $29,902.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,321 shares in the company, valued at $2,179,473.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 26,853 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.48, for a total value of $1,973,158.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 144,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,626,898.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,579 shares of company stock valued at $2,238,595 over the last 90 days. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 37,156 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,695,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 29,869 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,363,000 after acquiring an additional 3,937 shares during the period. Teza Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 113.7% during the 3rd quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 39,680 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 21,108 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 56,149 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,562,000 after acquiring an additional 16,553 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 58.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 128,043 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $5,843,000 after acquiring an additional 47,343 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.