Sunbelt Securities Inc. Makes New Investment in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 527 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $36,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WDC. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,577 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Western Digital by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 57,050 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,893,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 121.7% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 614 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its stake in Western Digital by 0.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 37,156 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 7.3% in the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 26,853 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,626,898.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,931 shares of company stock worth $2,053,368. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James cut Western Digital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Western Digital from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.09.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $75.77 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.74 billion, a PE ratio of -15.25 and a beta of 1.45. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $35.62 and a 52 week high of $81.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 12.87% and a negative return on equity of 13.75%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.57) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post -1.45 EPS 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.