V Square Quantitative Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 21.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,088 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,589 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 28,925.8% in the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 2,202,190 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $166,860,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194,603 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 247.0% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,446,509 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $109,602,000 after buying an additional 1,029,658 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 1,089.7% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,071,600 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $73,126,000 after buying an additional 981,527 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 39.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,861,229 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $216,795,000 after buying an additional 810,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 304.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 709,386 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $53,750,000 after buying an additional 534,168 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush raised their price target on Western Digital from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Summit Insights lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Western Digital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.24.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related 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 owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $134,391.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,019,957.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 92,955 shares of company stock worth $6,327,560 over the last three months. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $67.03 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $64.89 and a 200 day moving average of $69.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $35.62 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The firm has a market cap of $21.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.49 and a beta of 1.39.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The data storage provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.17. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 2.63% and a negative net margin of 3.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Company 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.