California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 476,947 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 108,114 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.15% of Western Digital worth $24,978,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 121.7% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 614 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Western Digital by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 747 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Down 2.1 %

WDC stock traded down $1.50 during trading on Monday, reaching $69.86. 8,996,039 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,120,395. The firm's 50 day moving average is $65.39 and its 200 day moving average is $55.26. The firm has a market cap of $22.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.06 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $32.01 and a twelve month high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 13.75% and a negative net margin of 12.87%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.57) earnings per share. Western Digital's revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post -2.21 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company'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 owns 20,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $68.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Western Digital from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.76.

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.