Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 375,637 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 136,704 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $25,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas dropped their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Summit Insights cut Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.71.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC opened at $63.96 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $66.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.46. Western Digital Co. has a 12-month low of $44.13 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $22.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.62 and a beta of 1.40.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for 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%. Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.97) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,208,417.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,208,417.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total value of $139,390.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,723.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 188,561 shares of company stock valued at $13,309,042 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.