Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Reduces Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 48,326 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 6,301 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $2,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $926,879,000 after acquiring an additional 423,651 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,921,608 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $539,355,000 after acquiring an additional 76,781 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $253,453,000 after acquiring an additional 732,344 shares during the last quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,287,400 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $224,497,000 after acquiring an additional 383,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 25.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 651,847 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho dropped their price target on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Benchmark downgraded Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Western Digital from $60.45 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.47.

Western Digital Stock Up 0.6 %

WDC opened at $41.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 1.42. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $39.58 and a 12 month high of $61.16.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 EPS 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 analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.