Commerce Bank Trims Stock Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Commerce Bank trimmed its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,796 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 197 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WDC. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 1.3% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 15,962 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,527 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,203 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 10,344 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $784,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 2.4% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,891 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $744,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. This represents a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $2,092,463.67. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares in the company, valued at $9,208,417.98. This trade represents a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 188,520 shares of company stock valued at $13,306,224 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC opened at $66.43 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $22.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.08 and a beta of 1.40. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $46.05 and a 52 week high of $81.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $66.48 and a 200-day moving average of $69.08.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.97) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.71.

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.