Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,921,608 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 76,781 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.29% of Western Digital worth $539,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aigen Investment Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 124.2% in the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 11,860 shares in the last quarter. Avala Global LP grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 49.0% in the third quarter. Avala Global LP now owns 1,147,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $78,376,000 after acquiring an additional 377,500 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased 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 period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $18,917,000 after acquiring an additional 27,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 137.9% in the third 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WDC shares. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued 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 price target of $87.71.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total value of $2,092,463.67. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,398 shares in the company, valued at $9,208,417.98. The trade was a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 value of $139,390.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,723.52. This represents a 6.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 184,107 shares of company stock worth $13,042,381 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $65.99 on Friday. Western Digital Co. has a one year low of $48.96 and a one year high of $81.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.82 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.97) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

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.