Caxton Associates LP Decreases Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Caxton Associates LP cut its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 42.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 106,764 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 78,562 shares during the quarter. Caxton Associates LP’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $8,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WDC. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter valued at about $1,242,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 28.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,619 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Gerber LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $567,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 382,071 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $26,073,000 after buying an additional 23,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 1,089.7% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,071,600 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $73,126,000 after buying an additional 981,527 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $27,059.13. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,873,374.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $27,059.13. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,873,374.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $134,391.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,019,957.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,955 shares of company stock worth $1,053,560. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Wedbush lifted their price target on Western Digital from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Western Digital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 6th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.24.

Western Digital Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $66.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $35.62 and a 12 month high of $81.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $64.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.57.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The data storage provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 2.63% and a negative net margin of 3.75%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.