IFM Investors Pty Ltd Raises Stock Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 62,555 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $4,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WDC. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,688 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 8.6% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 822,281 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $56,112,000 after purchasing an additional 64,980 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter valued at about $299,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 71,252 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $4,862,000 after buying an additional 7,501 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.25.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDC traded up $1.92 on Friday, hitting $71.36. The stock had a trading volume of 13,869,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,070,411. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $65.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.96. Western Digital Co. has a 1-year low of $32.01 and a 1-year high of $76.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 13.67% and a negative net margin of 12.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.57) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post -2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is owned by 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.