Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Acquired by UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 24.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 732,344 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $253,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aigen Investment Management LP raised its stake in Western Digital by 124.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 11,860 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $18,917,000 after purchasing an additional 27,849 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 19.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 291,777 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $19,925,000 after purchasing an additional 47,965 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 137.9% in 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 buying an additional 25,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ghisallo Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $13,260,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WDC. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.71.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $72.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.94 and a beta of 1.40. 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 50 day simple moving average of $66.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.11. Western Digital Co. has a 52-week low of $46.47 and a 52-week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.97) EPS. Western Digital’s revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.