Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires Shares of 19,600 Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 19,600 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,026,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth about $216,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 72.0% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,585 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 634.4% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 93,926 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $4,919,000 after purchasing an additional 81,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WESPAC Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth $788,000. 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, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $69.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $22.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.75 and a beta of 1.57. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $31.97 and a fifty-two week high of $76.92. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.68.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported ($0.69) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.30) by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.45% and a negative net margin of 19.90%. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.69) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post -2.21 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Mizuho upped their target price on Western Digital from $66.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Western Digital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America increased their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $68.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.72.

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.