John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lessened its position in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 95,218 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 5,850 shares during the quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $6,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Highland Peak Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter valued at approximately $6,505,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 104.6% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 19,708 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 10,077 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,929 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,418 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth $521,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. This represents a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were 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 approximately $9,208,417.98. The trade was a 18.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 188,144 shares of company stock worth $13,281,983 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Western Digital Stock Down 2.2 %

Western Digital stock opened at $63.84 on Thursday. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $46.05 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.55 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.18.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Summit Insights downgraded Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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.