Natixis Advisors LLC Acquires 6,455 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 9.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,131 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,455 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $5,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.3% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 15,962 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 15.6% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,527 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 10.7% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,203 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2.3% in the second quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 10,344 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $784,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2.4% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,891 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $2,092,463.67. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,398 shares in the company, valued at $9,208,417.98. The trade was a 18.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.48, for a total value of $178,292.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 37,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,303.04. This represents a 7.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 188,520 shares of company stock valued at $13,306,224. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC opened at $66.43 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $66.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.12. 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 firm has a market cap of $22.97 billion, a PE ratio of 39.08 and a beta of 1.40. Western Digital Co. has a 1 year low of $46.05 and a 1 year 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.97) EPS. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.