Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Has $347,000 Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,817 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 253 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,131 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 11,013 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Western Digital by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 841,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $50,191,000 after purchasing an additional 50,188 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 390,826 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $23,305,000 after buying an additional 15,189 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 83.9% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 31,634 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,886,000 after buying an additional 14,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 99,444 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $5,930,000 after buying an additional 34,579 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $40.62 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $55.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.42. The firm has a market cap of $14.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.67 and a beta of 1.42. 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 1-year low of $39.42 and a 1-year high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. Research analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Western Digital from $60.45 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.21.

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.