Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Purchased by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 53.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 99,444 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,579 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $5,930,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Western Digital by 278.9% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Western Digital during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 2,184.2% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total value of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.42.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $68.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.90 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $52.77 and a 12 month high of $81.55.

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

Western Digital 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.