5,912,668 Shares in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Bought by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 5,912,668 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $352,572,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WDC. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 278.9% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 2,184.2% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on WDC. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna cut their price target on Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned 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 $80.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Down 3.1 %

Western Digital stock opened at $40.62 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.67 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $39.42 and a 52 week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. Analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

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.