Westpac Banking Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Westpac Banking Corp lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 75.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,776 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 763 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,131 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,691,000 after buying an additional 11,013 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Western Digital by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 841,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $50,191,000 after acquiring an additional 50,188 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Western Digital by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 390,826 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $23,305,000 after acquiring an additional 15,189 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 83.9% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 31,634 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,886,000 after acquiring an additional 14,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 53.3% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 99,444 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $5,930,000 after purchasing an additional 34,579 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Western Digital Stock Down 10.6 %

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $30.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Western Digital Co. has a 1-year low of $29.76 and a 1-year high of $81.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.70 and a 200-day moving average of $61.51. The company has a market capitalization of $10.62 billion, a PE ratio of 7.27 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on WDC. Mizuho reduced their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Benchmark downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.21.

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.