Metis Global Partners LLC Has $1.05 Million Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,387 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,162 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Western Digital in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total value of $2,092,463.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. This trade represents a 18.52 % 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. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total transaction of $5,443,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 821,630 shares in the company, valued at $59,633,905.40. This trade represents a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 188,561 shares of company stock valued at $13,309,042 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $62.80 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.94 and a beta of 1.40. Western Digital Co. has a 52-week low of $45.23 and a 52-week high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.30.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.97) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas cut their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.71.

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.