Maverick Capital Ltd. Acquires New Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 79,002 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,395,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. DNB Asset Management AS raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 7,857,586 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $595,369,000 after purchasing an additional 206,756 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $253,453,000 after purchasing an additional 732,344 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,881,847 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $218,400,000 after purchasing an additional 143,074 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 39.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,861,229 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $216,795,000 after purchasing an additional 810,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,393,123 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $163,426,000 after purchasing an additional 89,959 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of WDC opened at $72.99 on Friday. Western Digital Co. has a 52-week low of $46.47 and a 52-week high of $81.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $66.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.11. The stock has a market cap of $25.23 billion, a PE ratio of 42.94 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WDC shares. BNP Paribas reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.71.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 185,963 shares of company stock worth $13,154,039 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.