Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $23.31 Million Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 390,826 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 15,189 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Western Digital worth $23,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,929 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,416 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 932 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total value of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Western Digital from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America cut their target price on Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Benchmark cut shares of 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.42.

Western Digital Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of WDC stock opened at $68.71 on Monday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $64.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Western Digital Co. has a 1 year low of $52.77 and a 1 year high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Company 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.

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