Claro Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Claro Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 75.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,060 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,597 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 9.3% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 76,131 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $5,199,000 after purchasing an additional 6,455 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Western Digital by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 83,183 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $5,681,000 after buying an additional 16,798 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,891 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $744,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 47,533 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,246,000 after acquiring an additional 3,615 shares during the period. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 9.5% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,665 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective 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, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.71.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. This trade represents a 7.72 % 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 2,900 shares of the company’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 transaction of $178,292.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 37,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,303.04. This trade represents a 7.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 188,561 shares of company stock worth $13,309,042 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of WDC stock opened at $64.58 on Tuesday. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $46.05 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The company has a market capitalization of $22.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.99 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.26. 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 announced 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 business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.97) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.