BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Buys 9,566 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 24.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,031 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,566 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $3,639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WDC. Summit Insights cut shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on Western Digital from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. StockNews.com raised Western Digital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 12,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.09, for a total transaction of $693,871.86. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,331,098.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 12,154 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.09, for a total value of $693,871.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 128,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,331,098.17. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.48, for a total value of $178,292.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 37,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,303.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,858 shares of company stock valued at $2,909,409 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $65.59 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $68.72 and a 200 day moving average of $68.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $35.62 and a 12 month high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The data storage provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.17. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 2.63% and a negative net margin of 3.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.77 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 8.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital 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.