Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Downgraded by Raymond James to “Market Perform”

Raymond James downgraded shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

WDC has been the subject of several other research reports. Rosenblatt Securities raised Western Digital from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Western Digital from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Western Digital in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued an outperform rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $73.72.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $69.44 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $64.73 and a 200 day moving average of $54.78. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $32.01 and a 52 week high of $76.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.74 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.45% and a negative net margin of 19.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.57) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Western Digital will post -2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kodai Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth $212,900,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth $150,958,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth $48,466,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 13,361,999 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $609,708,000 after buying an additional 870,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth $37,260,000. 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.