Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $100.00 to $93.00. The stock had previously closed at $63.54, but opened at $61.92. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Western Digital shares last traded at $61.63, with a volume of 1,345,131 shares trading hands.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on WDC. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, November 29th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $5,274,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total transaction of $139,390.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,140,723.52. The trade was a 6.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 184,107 shares of company stock worth $13,042,381 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Western Digital during the third quarter worth $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 2,184.2% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth $38,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $67.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $20.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.44 and a beta of 1.42.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.97) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

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.