New York State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 269,830 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 10,683 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.08% of Western Digital worth $18,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in Western Digital by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 822,281 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $56,112,000 after purchasing an additional 64,980 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 14.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,688 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 18,717 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,277,000 after acquiring an additional 3,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Western Digital by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,212 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total value of $2,092,463.67. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $2,092,463.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares in the company, valued at $9,208,417.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 200,715 shares of company stock worth $14,002,914. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $65.88 on Friday. Western Digital Co. has a 12-month low of $41.78 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The company has a market cap of $22.77 billion, a PE ratio of 38.75 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $65.69 and a 200 day moving average of $69.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.97) EPS. Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on WDC shares. Summit Insights lowered Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Digital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 6th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.71.

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.