Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,439,149 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Western Digital worth $2,531,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at $94,181,000. Sachem Head Capital Management LP boosted its position in Western Digital by 75.2% during the third quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP now owns 2,030,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $138,629,000 after purchasing an additional 871,500 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 24.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 732,344 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 25.7% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $218,034,000 after purchasing an additional 651,847 shares during the period. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,980,047 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $177,700,000 after buying an additional 586,924 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WDC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped 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. Citigroup raised their target price on Western Digital from $60.45 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.21.

Western Digital Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $43.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33 and a beta of 1.42. Western Digital Co. has a one year low of $39.42 and a one year high of $81.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS 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.