Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 7,362 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,769 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 7,362 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $4,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 3.2% during 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.0% during 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 period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 24.6% during 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 period. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 worth $224,497,000 after buying an additional 383,390 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in 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 worth $218,034,000 after buying an additional 651,847 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Benchmark downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Six investment 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,575.36. This trade represents a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $43.66 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $57.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.11. 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 stock has a market cap of $15.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.40 and a beta of 1.42. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $39.42 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55.

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

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.