Jones Financial Companies Lllp Increases Stock Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 73.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,604 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $96,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Western Digital by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $537,000. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,092 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,705 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $337,000. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 41,409 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,469,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,575.36. This trade represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday, February 10th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.47.

Western Digital Trading Up 5.9 %

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $44.53 on Monday. Western Digital Co. has a 1 year low of $39.42 and a 1 year high of $81.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.60 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $59.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.