Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Position Increased by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 202,512 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,892 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.06% of Western Digital worth $12,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,531,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,149 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Western Digital by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $926,879,000 after buying an additional 423,651 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,921,608 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $539,355,000 after buying an additional 76,781 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth $352,572,000. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 13.2% during the third quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,287,400 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $224,497,000 after acquiring an additional 383,390 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.1 %

WDC opened at $40.89 on Wednesday. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $39.10 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The firm has a market cap of $14.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.08. 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 (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on WDC. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.21.

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.