Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Position Trimmed by JAT Capital Mgmt LP

JAT Capital Mgmt LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 27.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 420,286 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 159,955 shares during the period. Western Digital comprises 4.6% of JAT Capital Mgmt LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. JAT Capital Mgmt LP owned approximately 0.12% of Western Digital worth $28,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.71.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.1 %

WDC opened at $72.99 on Friday. Western Digital Co. has a 12-month low of $46.47 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.23 billion, a PE ratio of 42.94 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $66.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.97) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total value of $2,092,463.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,398 shares in the company, valued at $9,208,417.98. The trade was a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 185,963 shares of company stock valued at $13,154,039. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.