First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Takes $259,000 Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,951 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 7.0% in the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 13,361,999 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $609,708,000 after purchasing an additional 870,971 shares in the last quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 29.3% in the third quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 2,486,333 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $113,451,000 after buying an additional 563,232 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 5,587,698 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $292,628,000 after purchasing an additional 443,903 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 92.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 704,883 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $32,164,000 after buying an additional 337,757 shares during the period. Finally, Sandler Capital Management bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth about $13,680,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Stock Down 1.5 %

Western Digital stock opened at $71.49 on Wednesday. Western Digital Co. has a 52-week low of $32.01 and a 52-week high of $76.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $67.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.38. The firm has a market cap of $23.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.38 and a beta of 1.53.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 12.87% and a negative return on equity of 13.75%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.57) EPS. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post -1.68 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on WDC. Argus upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $68.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $68.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Western Digital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.76.

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.