PFG Investments LLC Acquires New Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

PFG Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,314 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $431,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in Western Digital by 2.7% in the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 7,857,586 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $595,369,000 after purchasing an additional 206,756 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Western Digital by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,881,847 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $218,400,000 after acquiring an additional 143,074 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 810,977 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. increased 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. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 247.0% in 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 buying an additional 1,029,658 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 417 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,873,374.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.48, for a total value of $178,292.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 37,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,303.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $27,059.13. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 28,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,873,374.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 169,948 shares of company stock valued at $11,910,450 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WDC. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.09.

Western Digital Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of WDC opened at $68.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $38.43 and a 12 month high of $81.55. The stock has a market cap of $23.61 billion, a PE ratio of 40.18 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $65.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.61.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.97) EPS. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital 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.