Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Buys 68,879 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,096,993 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 68,879 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.96% of Western Digital worth $162,190,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WDC. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Western Digital by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 81,133 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $4,249,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in Western Digital by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 38,856 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $259,000. Waycross Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,571,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $68.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Benchmark raised Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James cut Western Digital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on Western Digital from $68.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.76.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC stock traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.60. 3,701,051 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,985,286. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $67.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.60. 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 0.72, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $23.38 billion, a PE ratio of -14.51 and a beta of 1.53.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 12.87% and a negative return on equity of 13.75%. The firm's revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.57) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post -1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction 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. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.