Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Buys 777 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 17.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,331 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 777 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $404,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 238.3% during the 2nd quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd now owns 317,455 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $24,054,000 after acquiring an additional 223,623 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth $287,000. L & S Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $2,881,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $1,197,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $4,031,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WDC. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Summit Insights lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their target price on Western Digital from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.24.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.2 %

Western Digital stock opened at $66.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Western Digital Co. has a 1-year low of $35.62 and a 1-year high of $81.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.49. The company has a market cap of $21.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.43 and a beta of 1.39.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The data storage provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 2.63% and a negative net margin of 3.75%. Research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 12,154 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.09, for a total value of $693,871.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 128,413 shares in the company, valued at $7,331,098.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 12,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.09, for a total value of $693,871.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,331,098.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.48, for a total value of $178,292.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 37,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,303.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,955 shares of company stock worth $1,053,560. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital 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.