John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Purchases 24,100 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 30.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,750 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 24,100 shares during the quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $5,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in Western Digital by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 747 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its stake in Western Digital by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 37,156 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. M Holdings Securities Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. M Holdings Securities Inc. now owns 6,735 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com lowered Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Mizuho raised their price target on Western Digital from $66.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI began coverage on Western Digital in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on Western Digital from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.17.

Western Digital Stock Down 3.3 %

WDC stock traded down $2.27 on Friday, hitting $66.05. 7,006,488 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,964,254. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $63.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.99. The stock has a market cap of $21.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.56 and a beta of 1.57. Western Digital Co. has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported ($0.69) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.30) by $0.61. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.45% and a negative net margin of 19.90%. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.69) EPS. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post -2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.