Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 16,000 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 44.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,027 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 16,000 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,368,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DNB Asset Management AS grew its position in Western Digital by 2.7% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 7,857,586 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $595,369,000 after buying an additional 206,756 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Western Digital by 5.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,881,847 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $218,400,000 after purchasing an additional 143,074 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 39.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,861,229 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $216,795,000 after purchasing an additional 810,977 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 3.9% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,393,123 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $163,426,000 after purchasing an additional 89,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 28,925.8% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 2,202,190 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $166,860,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194,603 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $71.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $24.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.06 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $66.73 and a 200-day moving average of $69.07. Western Digital Co. has a one year low of $46.42 and a one year high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($1.97) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $2,092,463.67. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares in the company, valued at $9,208,417.98. The trade was a 18.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,169 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $134,391.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,019,957.96. The trade was a 6.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 185,963 shares of company stock worth $13,154,039. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on WDC. UBS Group cut their target price on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Summit Insights lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.71.

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.