Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Hits New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday after Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on the stock from $95.00 to $65.00. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Western Digital traded as low as $39.42 and last traded at $39.82, with a volume of 1904047 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.70.

WDC has been the topic of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Western Digital from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Mizuho cut their price target on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Benchmark downgraded Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.47.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,929 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,416 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. BNP Paribas boosted its stake in Western Digital by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,415 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in Western Digital by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 932 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Trading Down 4.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.53.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 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.