Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 101,834 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,089,000.
Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WDC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,531,876,000 after buying an additional 1,439,149 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $520,450,000 after purchasing an additional 823,656 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth $352,572,000. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,980,047 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $177,700,000 after purchasing an additional 586,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,377,361 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $141,762,000 after buying an additional 119,168 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Western Digital Stock Performance
Shares of WDC stock traded up $1.59 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $35.99. 1,292,515 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,309,919. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.57 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $81.55. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $48.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.87.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.
Insider Activity at Western Digital
In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Western Digital from $60.45 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.00.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on WDC
About Western Digital
(
Free Report)
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.
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