Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Has $16.28 Million Stock Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. cut its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 20.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 273,037 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 69,700 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $16,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $352,572,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at $94,181,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,531,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,149 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 10.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 823,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,980,047 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $177,700,000 after acquiring an additional 586,924 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on WDC. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.68.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.5 %

WDC opened at $40.78 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $42.37 and a 200-day moving average of $57.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Western Digital Co. has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $81.55.

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

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the company’s 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 represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.