Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Bought by Claro Advisors LLC

Claro Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 75.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,060 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,597 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Western Digital during the third quarter worth $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $64.58 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Western Digital Co. has a 52-week low of $46.05 and a 52-week high of $81.55. The company has a market capitalization of $22.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.99 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $66.34 and a 200 day moving average of $69.26.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company’s revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.97) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $2,092,463.67. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. This trade represents a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.48, for a total value of $178,292.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 37,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,303.04. The trade was a 7.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 188,561 shares of company stock worth $13,309,042. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WDC. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Summit Insights cut Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.71.

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.