Cerity Partners LLC Raises Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 111.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 151,561 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 79,951 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $10,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,929 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 15.6% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,527 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 10.7% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,203 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 10,344 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $784,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 821,630 shares in the company, valued at $59,633,905.40. This represents a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of Western Digital 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 owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,121.37. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 186,278 shares of company stock valued at $13,173,985. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 5.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $73.02 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $66.58 and its 200 day moving average is $69.06. The stock has a market cap of $25.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.95 and a beta of 1.40. Western Digital Co. has a 52-week low of $46.28 and a 52-week high of $81.55. 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 (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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The business’s revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.97) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WDC. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group dropped their price target on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.71.

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.