Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Acquired by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 25.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,183 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 16,798 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $5,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $243,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $228,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,648,000. FIFTHDELTA Ltd acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $16,528,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 18,141 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,238,000 after acquiring an additional 2,116 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Stock Down 0.7 %

WDC traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $62.80. 3,502,102 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,722,891. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $66.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.30. The company has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.94 and a beta of 1.40. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.23 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. Western Digital's quarterly revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.97) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WDC. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total transaction of $5,443,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 821,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,633,905.40. This represents a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 417 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $27,059.13. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,870 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,873,374.30. This trade represents a 1.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 188,561 shares of company stock worth $13,309,042. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.