Virtu Financial LLC Purchases 21,143 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Virtu Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 158.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,451 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 21,143 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $2,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. BluePointe Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. BluePointe Capital Management LLC now owns 65,312 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $3,895,000 after acquiring an additional 1,967 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $338,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 73,508 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $4,383,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 147,136 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $8,774,000 after purchasing an additional 12,966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 55,952 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $3,336,000 after purchasing an additional 6,862 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WDC. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Benchmark downgraded Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven 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 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.21.

Western Digital Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of WDC traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $41.91. 4,909,631 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,940,108. The company's fifty day moving average price is $56.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.71. The company has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 1.42. 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 12 month low of $39.42 and a 12 month high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. Equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.