Raymond James & Associates Buys 20,117 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 59.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,078 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,117 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Western Digital were worth $3,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,242,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 28.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,619 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Ghisallo Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $13,260,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 382,071 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $26,073,000 after purchasing an additional 23,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 1,089.7% during 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 last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $27,059.13. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 28,870 shares in the company, valued at $1,873,374.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $27,059.13. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 28,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,873,374.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $134,391.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 32,601 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold 188,561 shares of company stock worth $13,309,042 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of WDC stock opened at $65.88 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.75 and a beta of 1.40. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $41.78 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.52.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WDC. BNP Paribas dropped their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.71.

Western Digital Company 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.