State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Acquires 5,836 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 126,017 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,836 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $7,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Western Digital by 278.9% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 2,184.2% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $72.03 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99. The stock has a market cap of $25.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15 and a beta of 1.44. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $52.77 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. As a group, analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the business’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 value of $46,053.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,347 shares of company stock valued at $93,027 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Western Digital in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.42.

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.