Empowered Funds LLC Buys 16,798 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 25.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 83,183 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,798 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $5,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter worth approximately $243,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth $228,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $1,648,000. FIFTHDELTA Ltd bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at $16,528,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 13.2% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 18,141 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,238,000 after buying an additional 2,116 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $62.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.94 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.31. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $45.23 and a 1-year high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.97) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $5,443,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 821,630 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $27,059.13. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 28,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,873,374.30. The trade was a 1.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 188,561 shares of company stock worth $13,309,042 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.