Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 16,798 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 83,183 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,798 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $5,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at about $243,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in Western Digital during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,648,000. FIFTHDELTA Ltd purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $16,528,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 18,141 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,238,000 after buying an additional 2,116 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $27,059.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,873,374.30. This represents a 1.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were 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 owns 821,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,633,905.40. This trade represents a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 188,561 shares of company stock worth $13,309,042 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WDC has been the subject of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group cut their target price on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.71.

Western Digital Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ WDC opened at $62.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.94 and a beta of 1.40. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.23 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.97) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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.