106,741 Shares in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Purchased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 106,741 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,365,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,131 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,691,000 after purchasing an additional 11,013 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Western Digital by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 841,700 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $50,191,000 after buying an additional 50,188 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 390,826 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $23,305,000 after acquiring an additional 15,189 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 83.9% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 31,634 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 14,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Western Digital by 53.3% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 99,444 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,930,000 after acquiring an additional 34,579 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WDC. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna decreased their price objective 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 stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.21.

Western Digital Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of WDC stock traded down $0.71 on Thursday, hitting $41.91. 4,909,631 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,938,736. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $39.42 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a PE ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 1.42. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $56.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.57.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share 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 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.