Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 3,591 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 348.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,623 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,591 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WDC. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Tobam bought a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 42.6% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,323 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 694 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Western Digital news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on WDC. Raymond James downgraded Western Digital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Western Digital from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.76.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC opened at $70.95 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.28 and a beta of 1.53. Western Digital Co. has a 52-week low of $32.01 and a 52-week high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 12.87% and a negative return on equity of 13.75%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($1.57) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post -1.68 EPS for the current year.

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.