KBC Group NV Has $18.92 Million Stock Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

KBC Group NV raised its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,849 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $18,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kovack Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at about $262,000. Parametrica Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $566,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $493,000. Aigen Investment Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 124.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,462,000 after buying an additional 11,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 236,672 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $16,162,000 after buying an additional 14,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on WDC shares. BNP Paribas lowered their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Summit Insights cut shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 417 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 28,870 shares in the company, valued at $1,873,374.30. This trade represents a 1.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $5,274,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. This represents a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 188,561 shares of company stock worth $13,309,042. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC stock 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. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $45.23 and a 12 month 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 50-day moving average price of $66.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.32.

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

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.