Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Acquired by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 75.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,776 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 763 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $106,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bryce Point Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $510,000. Ardmore Road Asset Management LP bought a new position in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth $8,944,000. Huntington National Bank increased its position in Western Digital by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,588 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $520,450,000 after buying an additional 823,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 166,891 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $9,952,000 after acquiring an additional 28,046 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,575.36. This trade represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $30.54 on Friday. Western Digital Co. has a 1 year low of $29.76 and a 1 year high of $81.55. The business’s fifty day moving average is $52.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.27 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Benchmark cut Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.21.

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.