Blueshift Asset Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 5,664 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in Western Digital by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 73,508 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $4,383,000 after acquiring an additional 2,427 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 147,136 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $8,774,000 after purchasing an additional 12,966 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 55,952 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $3,336,000 after purchasing an additional 6,862 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its position in Western Digital by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 54,530 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,252,000 after buying an additional 10,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M & L Capital Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $221,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $43.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.19 billion, a PE ratio of 10.40 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99. Western Digital Co. has a 52-week low of $39.42 and a 52-week high of $81.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $57.80 and a 200 day moving average of $63.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This trade represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $60.45 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Western Digital in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.21.

Western Digital Profile

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.