PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Purchases 3,179 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 30,551 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,179 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $2,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 28.6% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,619 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 124.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 11,860 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $18,917,000 after purchasing an additional 27,849 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 137.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,575 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,976,000 after purchasing an additional 25,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ghisallo Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth $13,260,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on WDC. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas dropped their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Summit Insights downgraded Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.71.

Western Digital Stock Up 4.5 %

WDC stock opened at $69.43 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.84 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $66.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.06. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $46.28 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.97) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,169 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $134,391.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,019,957.96. The trade was a 6.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total value of $2,092,463.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. This represents a 18.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 185,620 shares of company stock valued at $13,127,932 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.