Swiss National Bank Boosts Stock Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 0.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 969,007 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $66,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2.7% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 7,857,586 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $595,369,000 after buying an additional 206,756 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $218,400,000 after purchasing an additional 143,074 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 810,977 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 28,925.8% during the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 2,202,190 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $166,860,000 after buying an additional 2,194,603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $109,602,000 after buying an additional 1,029,658 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total value of $2,092,463.67. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. This represents a 18.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.48, for a total value of $178,292.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 37,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,303.04. The trade was a 7.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 188,144 shares of company stock worth $13,281,983 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.1 %

Western Digital stock opened at $65.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.41 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.22. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $46.05 and a twelve month high of $81.55. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.97) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.