Retirement Systems of Alabama Trims Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 1.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 71,338 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 690 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $4,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter worth $29,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 2,184.2% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of WDC stock opened at $63.54 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $48.96 and a 12 month high of $81.55. The stock has a market cap of $21.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.38 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.56.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total transaction of $139,390.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,723.52. This trade represents a 6.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total transaction of $5,443,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 821,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,633,905.40. This represents a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 184,107 shares of company stock valued at $13,042,381 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WDC shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas reduced their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.71.

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.