Virtu Financial LLC Increases Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 158.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 34,451 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,143 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $2,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WDC. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 9.5% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,665 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 9.3% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 76,131 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $5,199,000 after acquiring an additional 6,455 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,002,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 30,551 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,086,000 after buying an additional 3,179 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,418 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $43.66 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.40 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $39.42 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $60.45 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.21.

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.