Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 745 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 11.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,522 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 745 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $377,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 28.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,619 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP grew its stake in Western Digital by 124.2% in the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 11,860 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 137.9% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,575 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,976,000 after purchasing an additional 25,262 shares in the last quarter. Ghisallo Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $13,260,000. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 70.8% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 854,801 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $58,374,000 after buying an additional 354,343 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total transaction of $5,443,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 821,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,633,905.40. This trade represents a 8.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 188,144 shares of company stock valued at $13,281,983. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.71.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $65.29 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Western Digital Co. has a 12-month low of $46.05 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The company has a market capitalization of $22.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.41 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $66.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.22.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.97) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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.