Securian Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Securian Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,579 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in Western Digital by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $926,879,000 after buying an additional 423,651 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,921,608 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $539,355,000 after buying an additional 76,781 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 24.6% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 732,344 shares during the period. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in Western Digital by 13.2% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,192,762 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $218,034,000 after purchasing an additional 651,847 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WDC shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Benchmark lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target 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. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.47.

Insider Activity

In related 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 5.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $44.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.60 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $39.42 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

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.