Beta Wealth Group Inc. Raises Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Beta Wealth Group Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,300 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Beta Wealth Group Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 4,487.8% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 3,395 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 42,408 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,640 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $795,000 after purchasing an additional 2,165 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,825 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter valued at about $320,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on WDC. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Western Digital from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.42.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,121.37. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,347 shares of company stock valued at $93,027. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $68.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.27. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $52.77 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The company has a market capitalization of $23.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. Research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 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.