Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. Makes New $42,000 Investment in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 617 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 8,878 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,413 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at $755,000. Wahed Invest LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 5,534 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Western Digital by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,579,938 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,020,431,000 after acquiring an additional 215,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at about $379,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC stock traded up $1.45 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $66.33. 1,462,661 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,140,863. Western Digital Co. has a one year low of $35.62 and a one year high of $81.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.05 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $63.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The data storage provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 3.75% and a negative return on equity of 2.63%. Equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WDC shares. Summit Insights lowered Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.24.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 12,154 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.09, for a total value of $693,871.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,331,098.17. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $5,274,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 92,955 shares of company stock worth $6,327,560. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.