Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) was downgraded by BMO Capital Markets from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report released on Thursday, The Fly reports.
Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Summit Redstone reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Wednesday, September 13th. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday, September 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Western Digital from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $120.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $113.10.
Shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ WDC) opened at $82.67 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $24,400.00, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.64, a quick ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Western Digital has a 52-week low of $68.58 and a 52-week high of $95.77.
Western Digital declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, November 9th that permits the company to buyback $2.10 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the data storage provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.
In related news, Director Kathleen A. Cote sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.63, for a total value of $181,260.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,488,235.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark P. Long sold 4,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.13, for a total transaction of $393,676.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,384 shares in the company, valued at $7,789,281.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,039 shares of company stock valued at $1,400,999. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 84.7% during the 1st quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 2,180 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Amica Retiree Medical Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 28.9% during the 2nd quarter. Amica Retiree Medical Trust now owns 2,203 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Americafirst Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth about $108,000. Finally, American Beacon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth about $111,000. 83.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
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Western Digital Company Profile
Western Digital Corporation (Western Digital) is a developer, manufacturer and provider of data storage devices and solutions that address the needs of the information technology (IT) industry and the infrastructure that enables the proliferation of data in virtually every industry. The Company’s portfolio of offerings addresses three categories: Datacenter Devices and Solutions (capacity and performance enterprise hard disk drives (HDDs), enterprise solid state drives (SSDs), datacenter software and system solutions); Client Devices (mobile, desktop, gaming and digital video hard drives, client SSDs, embedded products and wafers), and Client Solutions (removable products, hard drive content solutions and flash content solutions).
