Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 19,600 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,026,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WDC. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 79.1% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 747 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 0.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 37,156 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 7.3% in the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 20.8% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 0.8% in the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 63,319 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,889,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $69.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $22.66 billion, a PE ratio of -9.75 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $64.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.68. Western Digital Co. has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported ($0.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.30) by $0.61. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.69) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post -2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Western Digital from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.