Avanza Fonder AB Makes New $1.57 Million Investment in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 26,324 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,570,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Aigen Investment Management LP grew its stake in Western Digital by 124.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,462,000 after buying an additional 11,860 shares during the last quarter. Avala Global LP boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 49.0% during the third quarter. Avala Global LP now owns 1,147,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $78,376,000 after acquiring an additional 377,500 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 19.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 291,777 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $19,925,000 after acquiring an additional 47,965 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $18,917,000 after acquiring an additional 27,849 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 137.9% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $65.04 on Friday. Western Digital Co. has a 1 year low of $52.76 and a 1 year high of $81.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $65.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.31. The company has a market cap of $22.48 billion, a PE ratio of 38.26 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.97) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 6.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 821,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,633,905.40. This trade represents a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total transaction of $139,390.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,723.52. This trade represents a 6.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,107 shares of company stock valued at $7,768,381 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on WDC. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Benchmark cut Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Western Digital from $81.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.65.

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.