Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Position Lifted by MML Investors Services LLC

MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 62.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,282 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,524 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aigen Investment Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 124.2% during the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 11,860 shares in the last quarter. Avala Global LP increased its position in Western Digital by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. Avala Global LP now owns 1,147,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $78,376,000 after purchasing an additional 377,500 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 291,777 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $19,925,000 after purchasing an additional 47,965 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $18,917,000 after buying an additional 27,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 137.9% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,575 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,976,000 after buying an additional 25,262 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction 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 $9,208,417.98. This represents a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. This represents a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 184,107 shares of company stock worth $13,042,381. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.71.

Western Digital Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WDC opened at $65.30 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $67.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Western Digital Co. has a 12-month low of $48.96 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.41 and a beta of 1.42.

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

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.