HighVista Strategies LLC Increases Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

HighVista Strategies LLC increased its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 5.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its stake in Western Digital by 25.7% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 158.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP now owns 291,411 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $19,900,000 after buying an additional 178,644 shares during the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 90.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 160,732 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $10,976,000 after buying an additional 76,120 shares during the last quarter. Avala Global LP grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. Avala Global LP now owns 1,147,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $78,376,000 after acquiring an additional 377,500 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 2,184.2% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. The trade was a 18.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,169 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $134,391.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,019,957.96. This trade represents a 6.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 186,276 shares of company stock worth $13,176,773. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $73.43 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.04. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $46.47 and a 52 week high of $81.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $25.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.19 and a beta of 1.42.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.97) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group cut their price target on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has a consensus 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.