16,500 Shares in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Acquired by Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 16,500 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $984,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,400,635 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $83,520,000 after purchasing an additional 57,248 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 99,444 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $5,930,000 after purchasing an additional 34,579 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 14,432 shares in the last quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2,352.8% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 8,070 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $71.29 on Friday. Western Digital Co. has a 1-year low of $52.77 and a 1-year high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.45. The firm has a market cap of $24.80 billion, a PE ratio of 16.97 and a beta of 1.44.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America dropped their price objective 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, Benchmark lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.42.

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.