Sfmg LLC Purchases New Shares in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Sfmg LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,068 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 292.1% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 30,302 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,504,000 after purchasing an additional 22,573 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth about $57,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 1,535.0% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,649 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 8,120 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in Western Digital by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 41,869 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,079,000 after purchasing an additional 2,755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its holdings in Western Digital by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 197,219 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $10,331,000 after purchasing an additional 3,642 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Western Digital from $66.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Western Digital from $52.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.61.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ WDC opened at $70.17 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $63.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.67. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $31.97 and a 52 week high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported ($0.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.30) by $0.61. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.45% and a negative net margin of 19.90%. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.69) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post -2.31 earnings per share for the current 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.