Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Grows Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,635 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 635 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $253,453,000 after purchasing an additional 732,344 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its stake in Western Digital by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $218,034,000 after acquiring an additional 651,847 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Western Digital by 5.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,881,847 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $218,400,000 after buying an additional 143,074 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 39.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,861,229 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $216,795,000 after purchasing an additional 810,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,393,123 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $163,426,000 after acquiring an additional 89,959 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total value of $2,092,463.67. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. This represents a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,020,121.37. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 186,276 shares of company stock valued at $13,176,773. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of WDC opened at $73.43 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Western Digital Co. has a 52-week low of $46.47 and a 52-week high of $81.55. The company has a market capitalization of $25.39 billion, a PE ratio of 43.19 and a beta of 1.42.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.97) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on WDC. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.71.

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.