Czech National Bank Acquires 8,441 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Czech National Bank raised its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 74,957 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 8,441 shares during the period. Czech National Bank's holdings in Western Digital were worth $4,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $95,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Western Digital by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 274,976 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $20,835,000 after acquiring an additional 6,148 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $214,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Western Digital by 5.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,881,847 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $218,400,000 after purchasing an additional 143,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,197,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WDC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $81.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Benchmark lowered shares of Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.14.

Western Digital Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:WDC traded down $0.38 on Thursday, reaching $64.25. 5,308,213 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,858,861. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $65.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.49. The company has a market capitalization of $22.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.79 and a beta of 1.43. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $51.75 and a 12 month high of $81.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 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 net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.97) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 6.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $2,092,463.67. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. The trade was a 18.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $5,443,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 821,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,633,905.40. This trade represents a 8.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 109,107 shares of company stock valued at $7,768,381 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.