Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Decreases Stock Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,455 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 2,213 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Sachem Head Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 75.2% in the third quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP now owns 2,030,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $138,629,000 after buying an additional 871,500 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 24.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $253,453,000 after buying an additional 732,344 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 25.7% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $218,034,000 after buying an additional 651,847 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 3.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $926,879,000 after buying an additional 423,651 shares during the period. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 13.2% in the third quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,287,400 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $224,497,000 after buying an additional 383,390 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $71.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $24.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.02 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $64.60 and its 200 day moving average is $65.41. Western Digital Co. has a 1 year low of $52.77 and a 1 year high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on WDC. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.