Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 108,486 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,225,201 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 108,486 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $73,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth $352,572,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at about $94,181,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,531,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,149 shares during the last quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP now owns 2,030,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $138,629,000 after purchasing an additional 871,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $218,034,000 after purchasing an additional 651,847 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the subject of several research reports. Benchmark lowered Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $60.45 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $74.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.21.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $40.43 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99. The firm has a market cap of $14.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.63 and a beta of 1.42. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $55.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.25. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $39.10 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55.

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

About Western Digital

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.