Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Bought by Nordea Investment Management AB

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 27,666 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WDC. Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its position in Western Digital by 124.2% during the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,462,000 after buying an additional 11,860 shares during the period. Avala Global LP lifted its position in Western Digital by 49.0% during the third quarter. Avala Global LP now owns 1,147,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $78,376,000 after buying an additional 377,500 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Western Digital by 19.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 291,777 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $19,925,000 after buying an additional 47,965 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Western Digital by 11.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $18,917,000 after buying an additional 27,849 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Western Digital by 137.9% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,575 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on WDC. Citigroup dropped their price target on Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Western Digital from $81.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Benchmark downgraded Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.86.

Western Digital Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of WDC stock opened at $62.82 on Friday. Western Digital Co. has a 1 year low of $49.68 and a 1 year high of $81.55. The stock has a market cap of $21.72 billion, a PE ratio of 36.95 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $65.89 and its 200-day moving average is $66.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.97) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total value of $139,390.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,723.52. The trade was a 6.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 109,107 shares of company stock worth $7,768,381. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Western Digital

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.