Swiss National Bank Sells 15,500 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

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

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,565,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 81.5% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 54,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,509,000 after acquiring an additional 24,688 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 32.1% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 70,744 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $3,228,000 after acquiring an additional 17,207 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth $226,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Western Digital by 0.7% in the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 125,598 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $5,731,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $72.60 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $23.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.61 and a beta of 1.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.18. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $32.01 and a 12 month high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42. The company 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 quarter last year, the business earned ($1.57) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post -1.68 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WDC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Benchmark raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Digital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Western Digital from $66.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.76.

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.