HighTower Advisors LLC Has $1.14 Million Stock Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,734 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 699 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighVista Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 25,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 25.7% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $218,034,000 after buying an additional 651,847 shares during the last quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Western Digital by 158.4% during the third quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP now owns 291,411 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $19,900,000 after buying an additional 178,644 shares in the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP raised its position in Western Digital by 90.0% in the 3rd quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 160,732 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $10,976,000 after buying an additional 76,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avala Global LP lifted its stake in Western Digital by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. Avala Global LP now owns 1,147,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $78,376,000 after acquiring an additional 377,500 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. This represents a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 184,107 shares of company stock worth $13,042,381 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $65.30 on Tuesday. Western Digital Co. has a 12-month low of $48.96 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $22.57 billion, a PE ratio of 38.41 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.67.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.97) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WDC. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.