BNP Paribas Trims Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

BNP Paribas reduced its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,249 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 5,264 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Aigen Investment Management LP raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 124.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after buying an additional 11,860 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Western Digital by 11.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $18,917,000 after acquiring an additional 27,849 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 137.9% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,575 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,976,000 after purchasing an additional 25,262 shares during the period. Ghisallo Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $13,260,000. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 291,777 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $19,925,000 after purchasing an additional 47,965 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WDC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.71.

Western Digital Stock Up 5.2 %

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $73.02 on Wednesday. Western Digital Co. has a 52-week low of $46.28 and a 52-week high of $81.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $66.58 and a 200 day moving average of $69.06. 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 company has a market capitalization of $25.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.95 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,169 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $134,391.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,019,957.96. This trade represents a 6.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total transaction of $5,443,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 821,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,633,905.40. This trade represents a 8.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 186,278 shares of company stock valued at $13,173,985. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.