Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP Decreases Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP decreased its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,976 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 17,397 shares during the quarter. Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP's holdings in Western Digital were worth $4,503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WDC. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 79.1% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 747 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Down 2.5 %

NASDAQ:WDC traded down $1.84 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $72.06. The company had a trading volume of 5,328,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,233,417. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.11 and a beta of 1.57. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $62.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.36. Western Digital Co. has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $76.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported ($0.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.30) by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.45% and a negative net margin of 19.90%. Western Digital's revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.69) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post -2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Western Digital news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Western Digital from $52.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on Western Digital from $66.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Western Digital from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Western Digital from $68.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.78.

Western Digital 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.