Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 6,219 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 3.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,585 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 6,219 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $11,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter worth about $243,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the first quarter valued at approximately $228,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 13.2% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 18,141 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,238,000 after buying an additional 2,116 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 28.6% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,619 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 4.6% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 251,436 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $17,167,000 after purchasing an additional 11,135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $63.84 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $46.05 and a 12 month high of $81.55. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.18. The stock has a market cap of $22.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.55 and a beta of 1.40.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced 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. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.97) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen lowered their target price 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. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $5,443,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 821,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,633,905.40. The trade was a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $139,390.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,140,723.52. The trade was a 6.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 188,144 shares of company stock valued at $13,281,983 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.