First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Has $636,000 Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 19.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,307 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,517 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $636,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total value of $139,390.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,723.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 200,715 shares of company stock worth $14,002,914. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $65.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.77 billion, a PE ratio of 38.75 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $41.78 and a 12 month high of $81.55.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.71.

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.