Parnassus Investments LLC Grows Stock Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,393,123 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 89,959 shares during the quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC owned about 0.69% of Western Digital worth $163,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 28,925.8% during the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 2,202,190 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $166,860,000 after buying an additional 2,194,603 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 247.0% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,446,509 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $109,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,658 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 1,089.7% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,071,600 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $73,126,000 after purchasing an additional 981,527 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $216,795,000 after buying an additional 810,977 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 304.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 709,386 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $53,750,000 after buying an additional 534,168 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock traded up $0.71 on Tuesday, reaching $65.29. 2,846,644 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,059,619. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $66.34 and a 200-day moving average of $69.26. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $46.05 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The firm has a market cap of $22.57 billion, a PE ratio of 38.34 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 owns 896,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. This represents a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.48, for a total value of $178,292.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 37,448 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,303.04. This trade represents a 7.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 188,561 shares of company stock valued at $13,309,042 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $92.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.71.

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.