Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 108,486 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,225,201 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 108,486 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.35% of Western Digital worth $73,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 6,235 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Western Digital by 0.9% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 95,385 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $6,514,000 after buying an additional 840 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 12.7% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 14,210 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $970,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 21.8% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 11,177 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $763,000 after buying an additional 1,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 2,184.2% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC opened at $40.43 on Tuesday. Western Digital Co. has a 1 year low of $39.10 and a 1 year 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $55.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.25. The firm has a market cap of $14.06 billion, a PE ratio of 9.63 and a beta of 1.42.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on WDC. Benchmark downgraded Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.