Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Bought by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 20.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,562 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,591 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WDC. State Street Corp raised its position in Western Digital by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $926,879,000 after buying an additional 423,651 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,921,608 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $539,355,000 after purchasing an additional 76,781 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 24.6% during the 3rd 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 valued at $253,453,000 after purchasing an additional 732,344 shares in the last quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,287,400 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $224,497,000 after purchasing an additional 383,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 25.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of WDC stock opened at $64.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $22.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.02 and a beta of 1.42. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $48.96 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $67.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. Western Digital’s revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.97) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,121.37. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 184,107 shares of company stock worth $13,042,381. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WDC. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.71.

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.