Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Sold by DnB Asset Management AS

DnB Asset Management AS lowered its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 27.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,733,138 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 2,876,734 shares during the period. Western Digital makes up 2.0% of DnB Asset Management AS’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $461,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WDC. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 278.9% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 2,184.2% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup increased their price target on Western Digital from $60.45 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group dropped 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Stock Down 1.7 %

WDC stock opened at $41.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $56.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.57. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $39.42 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. As a group, analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Western Digital

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.