ING Groep NV Has $3.39 Million Stock Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

ING Groep NV grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 796.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,670 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 44,132 shares during the period. ING Groep NV's holdings in Western Digital were worth $3,392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 8.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,407 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at about $243,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth about $228,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter worth about $1,648,000. Finally, FIFTHDELTA Ltd bought a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at about $16,528,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. BNP Paribas lowered their price objective on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Summit Insights lowered Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.48, for a total transaction of $178,292.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 37,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,303.04. This represents a 7.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 188,561 shares of company stock worth $13,309,042 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Western Digital Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of WDC stock traded down $0.42 on Friday, reaching $62.80. 3,502,102 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,722,891. The company has a market capitalization of $21.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.94 and a beta of 1.40. Western Digital Co. has a 12-month low of $45.23 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47. The business's 50 day moving average price is $66.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.31.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.97) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current 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.