Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Bought by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV grew its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 796.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,670 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,132 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $3,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. DNB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in Western Digital by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 7,857,586 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $595,369,000 after buying an additional 206,756 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Western Digital by 5.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,881,847 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $218,400,000 after acquiring an additional 143,074 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 39.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,861,229 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $216,795,000 after purchasing an additional 810,977 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 28,925.8% during the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 2,202,190 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $166,860,000 after acquiring an additional 2,194,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 247.0% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,446,509 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $109,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,658 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $5,274,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. This trade represents a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were 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 owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,208,417.98. The trade was a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 188,561 shares of company stock worth $13,309,042 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Summit Insights downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.71.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $62.80 on Friday. 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 fifty day moving average price is $66.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.31. The stock has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a PE ratio of 36.94 and a beta of 1.40. Western Digital Co. has a one year low of $45.23 and a one year high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.97) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Western Digital

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.