Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 147,136 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 12,966 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $8,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter valued at $1,002,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 11.6% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 30,551 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,086,000 after purchasing an additional 3,179 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 32.0% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,418 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 104.6% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 19,708 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,346,000 after buying an additional 10,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 111.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 151,561 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $10,350,000 after buying an additional 79,951 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $68,616.24. Following the completion of 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on WDC shares. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price target on Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven equities 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.21.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $41.91. 4,909,631 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,940,108. The company has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Western Digital Co. has a 52-week low of $39.42 and a 52-week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.