Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 67,049 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 543,701 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 67,049 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $34,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,531,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,149 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 3.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $926,879,000 after purchasing an additional 423,651 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,921,608 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $539,355,000 after purchasing an additional 76,781 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 24.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,711,428 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $253,453,000 after purchasing an additional 732,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 13.2% in the third quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,287,400 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $224,497,000 after buying an additional 383,390 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WDC. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.21.

Western Digital Stock Down 3.1 %

Western Digital stock opened at $40.62 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.41. 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. The company has a market cap of $14.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.67 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.