Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Sells 284,652 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lessened its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 30.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 640,806 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 284,652 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned approximately 0.20% of Western Digital worth $43,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. AI Squared Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter worth $1,331,000. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at $211,000. M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at $12,339,000. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at $1,282,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 21.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 383,156 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $26,147,000 after buying an additional 67,290 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on WDC. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $65.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Loop Capital upped their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on Western Digital from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.52.

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC traded down $0.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $69.82. 4,315,893 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,595,426. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.05 and a beta of 1.37. Western Digital Co. has a 1-year low of $35.62 and a 1-year high of $81.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

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

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 26,853 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.48, for a total transaction of $1,973,158.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 26,853 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 144,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,626,898.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $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 three months. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.