Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 136,704 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

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 Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 375,637 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 136,704 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Western Digital worth $25,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.3% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 15,962 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 15.6% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,527 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 10.7% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,203 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2.3% in the second quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 10,344 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $784,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 6.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,696 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $63.96 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $66.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.46. The firm has a market cap of $22.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.62 and a beta of 1.40. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $44.13 and a 52 week high of $81.55. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. The firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.97) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.71.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,873,374.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Western Digital news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $5,443,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 821,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,633,905.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,873,374.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 188,561 shares of company stock worth $13,309,042 over the last quarter. 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.