DnB Asset Management AS Reduces Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

DnB Asset Management AS trimmed its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 27.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,733,138 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 2,876,734 shares during the quarter. Western Digital accounts for about 2.0% of DnB Asset Management AS’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. DnB Asset Management AS owned 2.22% of Western Digital worth $461,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 278.9% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 2,184.2% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WDC. UBS Group decreased their target price on Western Digital from $74.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays decreased their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.21.

Western Digital Trading Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ WDC opened at $41.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $39.42 and a 52 week high of $81.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.57.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.