Rosenblatt Securities Cuts Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target to $50.00

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) had its price target decreased by Rosenblatt Securities from $76.00 to $50.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Rosenblatt Securities currently has a buy rating on the data storage provider's stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lowered their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Benchmark raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.65.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDC traded up $0.74 on Tuesday, hitting $44.69. 8,263,182 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,331,021. The company has a market capitalization of $15.54 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 1.39. The business's fifty day moving average is $40.54 and its 200 day moving average is $57.28. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm's revenue was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares of the company's stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 278.9% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP purchased a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.