Ardmore Road Asset Management LP Buys Shares of 150,000 Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Ardmore Road Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 150,000 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,944,000. Western Digital comprises about 1.3% of Ardmore Road Asset Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,416 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Western Digital by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 932 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Beta Wealth Group Inc. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Western Digital from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $60.45 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.21.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock traded down $3.61 on Friday, hitting $30.54. The stock had a trading volume of 22,935,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,173,072. The stock has a market cap of $10.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.27 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $29.77 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The business's 50 day moving average is $52.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.51.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. Analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current 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.