First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Makes New Investment in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,951 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WDC. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 121.7% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 614 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 79.1% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 747 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Benchmark raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $66.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Western Digital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.76.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

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

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock opened at $71.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $67.24 and a 200-day moving average of $56.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.38 and a beta of 1.53. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $32.01 and a 12 month high of $76.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.57) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post -1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.