Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Acquired by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,952 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,862 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $3,336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 3.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $926,879,000 after acquiring an additional 423,651 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,921,608 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $539,355,000 after buying an additional 76,781 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 24.6% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $253,453,000 after buying an additional 732,344 shares during the period. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. grew its position in Western Digital by 13.2% during the third quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,287,400 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $224,497,000 after buying an additional 383,390 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in Western Digital by 25.7% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $218,034,000 after buying an additional 651,847 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC opened at $44.51 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $15.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.60 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.26. Western Digital Co. has a 1 year low of $39.42 and a 1 year high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on WDC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,575.36. This trade represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.