IFM Investors Pty Ltd Has $4.35 Million Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,696 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $4,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth $437,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Western Digital by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 822,281 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $56,112,000 after purchasing an additional 64,980 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,688 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $236,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.09.

Western Digital Stock Up 4.7 %

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $69.45 on Friday. Western Digital Co. has a 52-week low of $35.62 and a 52-week high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.32. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.68. The firm has a market cap of $22.68 billion, a PE ratio of -13.97 and a beta of 1.39.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The data storage provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.17. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 3.75% and a negative return on equity of 2.63%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.77 billion. On average, analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 12,154 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.09, for a total value of $693,871.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 128,413 shares in the company, valued at $7,331,098.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $5,274,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 92,955 shares of company stock valued at $6,327,560 in the last three months. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.