Edgestream Partners L.P. Takes Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 24,147 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,648,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at $228,000. AI Squared Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at $1,331,000. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at $211,000. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at $12,339,000. Finally, Element Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at $1,282,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital upped their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com raised Western Digital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Western Digital from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on Western Digital from $68.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 416 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.88, for a total value of $29,902.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,321 shares in the company, valued at $2,179,473.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 416 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.88, for a total value of $29,902.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,321 shares in the company, valued at $2,179,473.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 26,853 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.48, for a total value of $1,973,158.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 144,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,626,898.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,488 shares of company stock worth $2,020,143. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Up 4.6 %

Shares of Western Digital stock traded up $3.24 on Monday, hitting $73.06. 5,420,937 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,326,398. Western Digital Co. has a one year low of $35.62 and a one year high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.12. The company has a market capitalization of $23.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.61 and a beta of 1.37.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 13.75% and a negative net margin of 12.87%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.57) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post -1.45 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.