Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Stake Lessened by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank decreased its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,796 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 197 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 583 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 124.2% during the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 11,860 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Western Digital by 11.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $18,917,000 after purchasing an additional 27,849 shares during 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. Finally, Ghisallo Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $13,260,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $66.43 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.08. Western Digital Co. has a one year low of $46.05 and a one year high of $81.55. The company has a market capitalization of $22.97 billion, a PE ratio of 39.08 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.97) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total transaction of $5,443,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 821,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,633,905.40. This represents a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $2,092,463.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. This represents a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 188,520 shares of company stock worth $13,306,224 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.