Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Sold by John G Ullman & Associates Inc.

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lessened its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 5.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 95,218 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 5,850 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $6,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,929 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Western Digital by 1.3% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 15,962 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in Western Digital by 15.6% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,527 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in Western Digital by 10.7% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,203 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 10,344 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $784,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Down 2.2 %

WDC stock opened at $63.84 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $22.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.55 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.40 and a 200-day moving average of $69.18. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $46.05 and a twelve month high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.97) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,900 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.48, for a total transaction of $178,292.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 37,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,303.04. This trade represents a 7.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 188,144 shares of company stock valued at $13,281,983 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Summit Insights lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.71.

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.