ING Groep NV Trims Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

ING Groep NV decreased its position in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 39.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,954 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 19,716 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 4.5% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 42,408 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 51.2% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 818 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 59.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 54,078 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,693,000 after buying an additional 20,117 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 14.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 18,268 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 2,306 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 82.4% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,108 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 3,211 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Western Digital from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.42.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $68.71 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36 and a beta of 1.44. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $52.77 and a 52 week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share 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 predict that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,121.37. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.