Advisors Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,418 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $97,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth $29,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $72.99 on Friday. Western Digital Co. has a 12-month low of $46.47 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $25.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.08 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $66.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.97) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WDC shares. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday. Citigroup dropped their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.71.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $134,391.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 32,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,019,957.96. This represents a 6.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $5,443,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 821,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,633,905.40. This represents a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 185,963 shares of company stock worth $13,154,039. 0.30% of the stock is currently 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.