Prudential Financial Inc. Cuts Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 185,862 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 19,193 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Western Digital worth $11,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,416 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 22.6% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 932 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beta Wealth Group Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WDC has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Down 3.1 %

WDC stock opened at $40.62 on Friday. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $39.42 and a 12 month high of $81.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $55.69 and its 200 day moving average is $62.42. The company has a market capitalization of $14.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.67 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current 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.