Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC reduced its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 97.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,475 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 296,199 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 2,184.2% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. BNP Paribas dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.71.

Western Digital Trading Down 0.5 %

Western Digital stock traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $70.74. The stock had a trading volume of 3,123,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,025,102. Western Digital Co. has a one year low of $48.39 and a one year high of $81.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $24.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.61 and a beta of 1.42. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $67.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.00.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.97) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total value of $46,053.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,121.37. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $5,443,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 821,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,633,905.40. This represents a 8.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 184,107 shares of company stock valued at $13,042,381 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.