Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $660,000 Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,668 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 864 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter worth $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,051,021.60. This represents a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $2,092,463.67. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. This represents a 18.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 188,561 shares of company stock valued at $13,309,042 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $64.58 on Tuesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $66.34 and its 200-day moving average is $69.26. Western Digital Co. has a 12-month low of $46.05 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The stock has a market cap of $22.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.99 and a beta of 1.40.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.97) EPS. Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WDC. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.