III Capital Management Cuts Stock Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

III Capital Management cut its stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 83.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 63,650 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 315,458 shares during the period. Western Digital comprises about 0.3% of III Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. III Capital Management’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $4,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 24.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $253,453,000 after acquiring an additional 732,344 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $218,034,000 after purchasing an additional 651,847 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Western Digital by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,881,847 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $218,400,000 after purchasing an additional 143,074 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 39.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,861,229 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $216,795,000 after buying an additional 810,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 3.9% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,393,123 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $163,426,000 after buying an additional 89,959 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas dropped their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $5,443,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 821,630 shares in the company, valued at $59,633,905.40. This trade represents a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 186,276 shares of company stock worth $13,176,773 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Western Digital Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ WDC traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $73.43. 5,392,654 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,830,806. Western Digital Co. has a 52-week low of $46.47 and a 52-week high of $81.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.04. 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 firm has a market cap of $25.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.19 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Western Digital 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.