Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 137,360 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,159 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $8,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Western Digital by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,131 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 11,013 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Western Digital by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 841,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $50,191,000 after acquiring an additional 50,188 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its position in Western Digital by 124.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 11,860 shares during the period. Avala Global LP lifted its position in Western Digital by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. Avala Global LP now owns 1,147,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $78,376,000 after acquiring an additional 377,500 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in Western Digital by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 291,777 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $19,925,000 after acquiring an additional 47,965 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $68.39 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $23.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.27. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $52.77 and a 52 week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,347 shares of company stock valued at $93,027. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WDC. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.42.

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.