Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 35,765 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,213 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sfmg LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $213,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,026,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $216,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 72.0% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,585 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFS Partners LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $220,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Western Digital news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on WDC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com cut Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Evercore ISI began coverage on Western Digital in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on Western Digital from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on Western Digital from $68.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.72.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $67.05 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $63.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $31.97 and a 52 week high of $76.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported ($0.69) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.30) by $0.61. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.69) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict 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.