Stifel Financial Corp Sells 12,675 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Stifel Financial Corp lowered its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 88,289 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 12,675 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $6,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted 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 stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas dropped their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. 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 report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.71.

Western Digital Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $65.12 on Friday. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $48.96 and a 52 week high of $81.55. The stock has a market cap of $22.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.31 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $67.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total value of $2,092,463.67. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. The trade was a 18.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total transaction of $139,390.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,140,723.52. This represents a 6.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 184,107 shares of company stock valued at $13,042,381. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.