Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Grows Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 74,457 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,713 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $3,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WDC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Western Digital by 9.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,595,297 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $851,166,000 after buying an additional 1,931,325 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 13,361,999 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $609,708,000 after acquiring an additional 870,971 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 5,587,698 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $292,628,000 after acquiring an additional 443,903 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 5,143,795 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $234,711,000 after acquiring an additional 351,916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Western Digital by 2.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,501,843 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $173,893,000 after purchasing an additional 80,373 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $71.06 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.77. The stock has a market cap of $23.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.97 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $31.97 and a 12 month high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported ($0.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.30) by $0.61. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3 billion. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 19.90% and a negative return on equity of 19.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.69) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post -2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $66.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Western Digital from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.61.

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.