Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC Boosts Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,914 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the period. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AGF Management Ltd. bought a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth $480,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 796,784 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $41,728,000 after buying an additional 91,901 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 859 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 315,866 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $15,901,000 after buying an additional 20,910 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 15,810 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $828,000 after buying an additional 1,757 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $27,059.13. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,873,374.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $27,059.13. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,873,374.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 12,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.09, for a total transaction of $693,871.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,413 shares in the company, valued at $7,331,098.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,174 shares of company stock valued at $1,070,642 over the last ninety days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $63.25 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.25 and a 200 day moving average of $69.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $35.62 and a 52 week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The data storage provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 3.75% and a negative return on equity of 2.63%. Equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WDC. Summit Insights downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Digital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 6th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.82.

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.