Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank trimmed its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,013,607 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 15,500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.31% of Western Digital worth $53,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WDC. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 7.0% in the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 13,361,999 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $609,708,000 after acquiring an additional 870,971 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 5,587,698 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $292,628,000 after purchasing an additional 443,903 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,268,764 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $149,154,000 after buying an additional 92,009 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital by 2.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,028,114 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $138,173,000 after buying an additional 66,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 1.3% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,657,334 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $121,254,000 after buying an additional 34,570 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WDC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Western Digital from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Stock Down 1.5 %

WDC traded down $1.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $71.49. 3,920,999 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,081,367. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $67.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a PE ratio of -14.38 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.86. Western Digital Co. has a 1 year low of $32.01 and a 1 year high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 12.87% and a negative return on equity of 13.75%. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.57) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post -1.68 EPS 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.