HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Makes New $379,000 Investment in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,244 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $379,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,579,938 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,020,431,000 after purchasing an additional 215,207 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Western Digital by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 13,361,999 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $609,708,000 after buying an additional 870,971 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS increased its position in Western Digital by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 5,587,698 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $292,628,000 after buying an additional 443,903 shares during the period. Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,900,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,268,764 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $149,154,000 after acquiring an additional 92,009 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 26,853 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.48, for a total transaction of $1,973,158.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 144,623 shares in the company, valued at $10,626,898.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 26,853 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.48, for a total transaction of $1,973,158.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 144,623 shares in the company, valued at $10,626,898.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,579 shares of company stock valued at $2,238,595 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Down 4.9 %

Western Digital stock opened at $76.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $73.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.10. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $35.62 and a 52 week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 13.75% and a negative net margin of 12.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.57) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post -1.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WDC. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup began coverage on Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James downgraded Western Digital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.09.

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.