South Dakota Investment Council Has $15.40 Million Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

South Dakota Investment Council cut its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 294,039 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 9,600 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned approximately 0.09% of Western Digital worth $15,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,577 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 747 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 121.7% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 614 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 37,156 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,695,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 7.3% in the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Western Digital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James cut Western Digital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Western Digital news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDC traded up $2.87 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $69.92. 7,703,300 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,974,050. The company has a market capitalization of $22.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.81 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $64.19 and a 200 day moving average of $54.57. Western Digital Co. has a 1-year low of $31.97 and a 1-year high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported ($0.69) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.30) by $0.61. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.45% and a negative net margin of 19.90%. Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.69) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post -2.21 EPS for the current year.

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.