Claro Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Claro Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 75.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,060 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,597 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. AGF Management Ltd. grew its position in Western Digital by 28,925.8% during the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 2,202,190 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $166,860,000 after acquiring an additional 2,194,603 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 247.0% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,446,509 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $109,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,658 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Western Digital by 1,089.7% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,071,600 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $73,126,000 after purchasing an additional 981,527 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Western Digital by 39.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,861,229 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $216,795,000 after purchasing an additional 810,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Western Digital by 304.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 709,386 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $53,750,000 after buying an additional 534,168 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WDC. StockNews.com raised Western Digital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.24.

Western Digital Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $67.03 on Friday. Western Digital Co. has a 1 year low of $35.62 and a 1 year high of $81.55. The firm has a market cap of $21.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.49 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.89 and a 200 day moving average of $69.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The data storage provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.17. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 3.75% and a negative return on equity of 2.63%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $134,391.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,019,957.96. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 92,955 shares of company stock worth $6,327,560. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.