Aequim Alternative Investments LP Buys 217,800 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Aequim Alternative Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 142.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 371,000 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 217,800 shares during the quarter. Aequim Alternative Investments LP owned approximately 0.11% of Western Digital worth $25,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in Western Digital by 28,925.8% during the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 2,202,190 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $166,860,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194,603 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 247.0% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,446,509 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $109,602,000 after buying an additional 1,029,658 shares during the last quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP grew its stake in Western Digital by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP now owns 2,030,000 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $138,629,000 after buying an additional 871,500 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Western Digital by 39.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,861,229 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $216,795,000 after acquiring an additional 810,977 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $253,453,000 after acquiring an additional 732,344 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total value of $139,390.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,723.52. This trade represents a 6.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at $63,051,021.60. This represents a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 184,107 shares of company stock worth $13,042,381. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WDC shares. BNP Paribas dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.71.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock traded down $1.92 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $68.82. 3,085,572 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,010,019. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $48.39 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55. The company has a market cap of $23.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.61 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.97) earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.