HighVista Strategies LLC Buys 1,400 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

HighVista Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 5.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. HighVista Strategies LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Holocene Advisors LP raised its position in Western Digital by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $218,034,000 after purchasing an additional 651,847 shares during the last quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP raised its position in Western Digital by 158.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP now owns 291,411 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $19,900,000 after purchasing an additional 178,644 shares during the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP raised its position in Western Digital by 90.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 160,732 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $10,976,000 after purchasing an additional 76,120 shares during the last quarter. Avala Global LP raised its position in Western Digital by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. Avala Global LP now owns 1,147,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $78,376,000 after purchasing an additional 377,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 2,184.2% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,020,121.37. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,398 shares in the company, valued at $9,208,417.98. The trade was a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 186,276 shares of company stock valued at $13,176,773 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on WDC shares. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Barclays increased their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.71.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC opened at $73.43 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $46.47 and a 12 month high of $81.55. The company has a market cap of $25.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.19 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 the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted ($1.97) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.