Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Lowers Stock Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 9.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,938,787 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 2,230,568 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 6.72% of Western Digital worth $1,497,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the first quarter worth about $30,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 121.7% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 614 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $68.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.96.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 26,853 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.48, for a total value of $1,973,158.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 144,623 shares in the company, valued at $10,626,898.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 26,853 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.48, for a total value of $1,973,158.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 144,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,626,898.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 416 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.88, for a total value of $29,902.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,321 shares in the company, valued at $2,179,473.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,488 shares of company stock worth $2,020,143 over the last 90 days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.7 %

NASDAQ WDC traded up $1.77 during trading on Friday, hitting $68.26. The stock had a trading volume of 4,473,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,035,107. The company has a market capitalization of $22.29 billion, a PE ratio of -13.73 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $75.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.73. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $35.62 and a twelve month high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 13.75% and a negative net margin of 12.87%. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.57) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post -1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

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.