StockNews.com Downgrades Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Mizuho cut their price objective on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Western Digital from $60.45 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.21.

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Western Digital Trading Down 3.1 %

WDC traded down $1.32 during trading on Monday, reaching $40.59. The company had a trading volume of 1,262,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,099,641. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $39.42 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The company has a market cap of $14.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.67 and a beta of 1.42. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $56.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.57.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,439,149 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in 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 worth $926,879,000 after purchasing an additional 423,651 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $520,450,000 after purchasing an additional 823,656 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $352,572,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,592,516 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $273,852,000 after buying an additional 881,088 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

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.