Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Sold by Primecap Management Co. CA

Primecap Management Co. CA lowered its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,158,615 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 2,820 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $69,088,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Western Digital by 3.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $926,879,000 after acquiring an additional 423,651 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,921,608 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $539,355,000 after acquiring an additional 76,781 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 24.6% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $253,453,000 after acquiring an additional 732,344 shares during the period. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 13.2% during the third quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,287,400 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $224,497,000 after acquiring an additional 383,390 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its holdings in Western Digital by 25.7% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $218,034,000 after acquiring an additional 651,847 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WDC. Barclays dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark lowered Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Western Digital from $74.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.21.

Western Digital Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $44.34 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Western Digital Co. has a 52-week low of $39.42 and a 52-week high of $81.55. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.52. The company has a market capitalization of $15.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 1.42.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 research analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Western Digital 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.