Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys 50,188 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 841,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,188 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.24% of Western Digital worth $50,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Western Digital by 278.9% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Western Digital during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 2,184.2% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total value of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,347 shares of company stock worth $93,027 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WDC. Mizuho decreased their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.21.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $69.04 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.16. Western Digital Co. has a one year low of $52.77 and a one year high of $81.55. The company has a market capitalization of $24.01 billion, a PE ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Company 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.