Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Buys New Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,675 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $183,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,285 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 2,371 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the third quarter valued at $720,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,921,608 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $539,355,000 after buying an additional 76,781 shares in the last quarter. Aequim Alternative Investments LP raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 142.2% in the third quarter. Aequim Alternative Investments LP now owns 371,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,336,000 after acquiring an additional 217,800 shares during the period. Finally, Sender Co & Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,397,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. BNP Paribas reduced their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.71.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was 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 owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total value of $46,053.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,020,121.37. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 184,107 shares of company stock worth $13,042,381. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $63.54 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $21.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.38 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.56. Western Digital Co. has a 1-year low of $48.96 and a 1-year high of $81.55.

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

Western Digital 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.