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

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 74,457 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,713 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $3,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in Western Digital by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 747 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 0.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 37,156 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,695,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 7.3% in the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. M Holdings Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. M Holdings Securities Inc. now owns 6,735 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Price 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. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $31.97 and a fifty-two week high of $76.92. The company has a market capitalization of $23.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.97 and a beta of 1.56. 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 (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported ($0.69) earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $3 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.45% and a negative net margin of 19.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.69) EPS. Analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post -2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were 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 $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were 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 approximately $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $68.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.61.

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.