Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Increases Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 82.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,108 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,211 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $485,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WDC. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.09.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $69.45 on Monday. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $35.62 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.97 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.67.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 3.75% and a negative return on equity of 2.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.97) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 12,154 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.09, for a total value of $693,871.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 128,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,331,098.17. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 92,955 shares of company stock worth $6,327,560 in the last three months. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.