UBS Group Has Lowered Expectations for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target trimmed by UBS Group from $74.00 to $50.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho reduced their price target 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. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Western Digital in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Western Digital from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price target on Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.21.

Western Digital Stock Up 0.5 %

Western Digital stock opened at $44.75 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $15.57 billion, a PE ratio of 10.65 and a beta of 1.42. 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 one year low of $39.42 and a one year high of $81.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.37 and a 200 day moving average of $63.67.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 67.4% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,296 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 8.2% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 15,387 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,051,000 after buying an additional 1,162 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 9.5% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,665 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 8.2% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 47,533 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,246,000 after buying an additional 3,615 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 9.3% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 76,131 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $5,199,000 after buying an additional 6,455 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.