Freestone Grove Partners LP Takes Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,156,289 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $68,950,000. Western Digital accounts for approximately 0.8% of Freestone Grove Partners LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Freestone Grove Partners LP owned approximately 0.33% of Western Digital at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Western Digital by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,531,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,149 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $520,450,000 after buying an additional 823,656 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $352,572,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,397,671 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $202,603,000 after purchasing an additional 478,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,980,047 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $177,700,000 after acquiring an additional 586,924 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This trade represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Western Digital from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.65.

Western Digital Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Western Digital stock traded up $0.34 during trading on Monday, reaching $45.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,514,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,337,087. The company has a market cap of $15.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.98. Western Digital Co. has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.30. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital's payout ratio is 7.58%.

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.