Xponance Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Xponance Inc. lowered its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 42,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 1,938 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $2,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 13,361,999 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $609,708,000 after acquiring an additional 870,971 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 5,587,698 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $292,628,000 after acquiring an additional 443,903 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,268,764 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $149,154,000 after acquiring an additional 92,009 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,028,114 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $138,173,000 after acquiring an additional 66,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,657,334 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $121,254,000 after acquiring an additional 34,570 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $67.05 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $21.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.40 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $63.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.40. Western Digital Co. has a 52-week low of $31.97 and a 52-week high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its 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 net margin of 19.90% and a negative return on equity of 19.45%. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.69) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post -2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $68.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James cut shares of Western Digital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.72.

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.