Cantor Fitzgerald Has Lowered Expectations for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target dropped by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $95.00 to $65.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price objective points to a potential upside of 55.88% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Benchmark lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.47.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $41.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.54. Western Digital has a one year low of $39.58 and a one year high of $61.16.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,131 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after buying an additional 11,013 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 841,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $50,191,000 after purchasing an additional 50,188 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 390,826 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $23,305,000 after purchasing an additional 15,189 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 83.9% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 31,634 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 14,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 53.3% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 99,444 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $5,930,000 after purchasing an additional 34,579 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Company Profile

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.