John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Has $6.96 Million Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lowered its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 102,050 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the period. Western Digital accounts for 1.1% of John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $6,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 14,113 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $739,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $480,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,415,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Western Digital by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 81,346 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $4,260,000 after purchasing an additional 15,285 shares during the period. Finally, Gerber LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $567,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC traded down $2.40 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $77.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,076,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,339,790. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $35.62 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55. The company has a market capitalization of $25.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.66 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.99.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 13.75% and a negative net margin of 12.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.57) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post -1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 26,853 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.48, for a total value of $1,973,158.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 144,623 shares in the company, valued at $10,626,898.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 26,853 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.48, for a total value of $1,973,158.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 144,623 shares in the company, valued at $10,626,898.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.88, for a total value of $29,902.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,179,473.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,488 shares of company stock worth $2,020,143 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WDC. Bank of America upped their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Western Digital from $65.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.09.

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.