Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Purchased by LSV Asset Management

LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 961,280 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 84,080 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $57,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 68.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 20,570 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after buying an additional 8,378 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 20.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,501 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $3,312,000 after acquiring an additional 8,217 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Western Digital by 43.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 138,845 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $9,482,000 after acquiring an additional 42,375 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in Western Digital by 62.8% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 27,282 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,863,000 after acquiring an additional 10,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,410 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $6,925,000 after purchasing an additional 5,986 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $34.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Western Digital Co. has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $81.55. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $49.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.16. The company has a market capitalization of $12.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 1.39.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. Analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WDC. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday, February 10th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.68.

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.