Creative Planning Purchases 1,835 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 42,408 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,835 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $2,896,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 12,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.09, for a total value of $693,871.86. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,331,098.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.48, for a total transaction of $178,292.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 37,448 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,303.04. 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. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 12,154 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.09, for a total value of $693,871.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 128,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,331,098.17. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 92,955 shares of company stock valued at $6,327,560. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $69.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $22.68 billion, a PE ratio of -13.97 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $65.42 and a 200-day moving average of $69.68. Western Digital Co. has a 1-year low of $35.62 and a 1-year high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 2.63% and a negative net margin of 3.75%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Summit Insights lowered Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Barclays upped their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.09.

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.