Rhumbline Advisers Acquires 8,029 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 628,672 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 8,029 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.18% of Western Digital worth $37,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Western Digital by 7.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in Western Digital by 22.6% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 932 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the subject of several research reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Seven investment 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ WDC traded down $2.58 on Friday, reaching $68.71. 9,049,607 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,672,468. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $52.77 and a 12 month high of $81.55. The company has a market cap of $23.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36 and a beta of 1.44. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $64.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.45. 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 (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 (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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.