Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Sells 3,739 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC reduced its stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,418 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 3,739 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 2,184.2% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total transaction of $5,443,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 821,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,633,905.40. This represents a 8.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 transaction of $139,390.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,140,723.52. This trade represents a 6.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 184,107 shares of company stock valued at $13,042,381 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WDC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. BNP Paribas cut their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.71.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC opened at $63.54 on Thursday. Western Digital Co. has a 1 year low of $48.96 and a 1 year high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $21.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.38 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $67.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.56.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.97) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share 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.