Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Trims Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lowered its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,681 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 157 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Western Digital during the third quarter valued at $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2,184.2% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $65.12 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $67.67 and its 200 day moving average is $68.74. Western Digital Co. has a one year low of $48.96 and a one year high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $22.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.31 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas decreased their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.71.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,398 shares in the company, valued at $9,208,417.98. This represents a 18.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % 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.

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.