Inspire Investing LLC Sells 3,191 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Inspire Investing LLC reduced its stake in Western Digital Corporation by 41.6% during the second quarter, selling 3,191 shares and leaving it with 4,471 shares valued at $286,000.
• Recent analyst upgrades include Zacks Research, which upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" to a "strong-buy" rating, while UBS raised its price target from $45 to $75.
• Insiders sold nearly 50,000 shares in the last three months, with a notable $1 million transaction by insider Cynthia L. Tregillis at an average price of $74.78.

Inspire Investing LLC decreased its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 41.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,471 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 3,191 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Parsifal Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Western Digital by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 897,574 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $36,289,000 after acquiring an additional 217,574 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 52.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,838 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,166,000 after acquiring an additional 9,974 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust bought a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $233,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,406,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 144,307 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,834,000 after acquiring an additional 6,947 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on WDC. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $103.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total value of $1,051,930.26. Following the sale, the insider owned 135,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,121,547.78. The trade was a 9.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total transaction of $28,557.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 27,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,682.50. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 49,730 shares of company stock worth $3,921,594. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $125.92 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $98.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $43.17 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.77. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $137.40.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. Equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

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.

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