Strategy Asset Managers LLC Purchases Shares of 7,635 Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Strategy Asset Managers LLC bought a new position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,635 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $521,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. AGF Management Ltd. increased its stake in Western Digital by 28,925.8% in the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 2,202,190 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $166,860,000 after acquiring an additional 2,194,603 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 247.0% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,446,509 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $109,602,000 after buying an additional 1,029,658 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 1,089.7% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,071,600 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $73,126,000 after buying an additional 981,527 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Western Digital by 39.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,861,229 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $216,795,000 after buying an additional 810,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Western Digital by 304.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 709,386 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $53,750,000 after acquiring an additional 534,168 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $5,443,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 821,630 shares in the company, valued at $59,633,905.40. This trade represents a 8.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,900 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.48, for a total transaction of $178,292.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 37,448 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,303.04. The trade was a 7.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 188,144 shares of company stock valued at $13,281,983 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC opened at $63.84 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $66.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.18. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a PE ratio of 37.55 and a beta of 1.40. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $46.05 and a 52 week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released 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. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.97) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. 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. Citigroup reduced their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.71.

Western Digital Company 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.