Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 642 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 78.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,460 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $87,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Aigen Investment Management LP raised its holdings in Western Digital by 124.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 11,860 shares during the period. Avala Global LP boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. Avala Global LP now owns 1,147,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $78,376,000 after purchasing an additional 377,500 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 19.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 291,777 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $19,925,000 after purchasing an additional 47,965 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $18,917,000 after purchasing an additional 27,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 137.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,575 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,976,000 after acquiring an additional 25,262 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Trading Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ WDC opened at $64.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Western Digital Co. has a 12-month low of $52.77 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.24.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. On average, analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,347 shares of company stock valued at $93,027 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Benchmark downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.21.

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.