Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 2,723 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,364 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,723 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $3,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,186 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 47.6% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,918 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,552,000 after purchasing an additional 18,044 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 137,097 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $6,256,000 after purchasing an additional 6,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $228,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Western Digital news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Mizuho lifted their price target on Western Digital from $66.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.72.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $69.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.67. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $31.97 and a 52 week high of $76.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.81 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $64.19 and a 200-day moving average of $54.57.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported ($0.69) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.30) by $0.61. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.45% and a negative net margin of 19.90%. Western Digital’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.69) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post -2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.