Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $6.11 Million Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,479 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $6,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,131 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after purchasing an additional 11,013 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 841,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $50,191,000 after buying an additional 50,188 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 390,826 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $23,305,000 after buying an additional 15,189 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 83.9% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 31,634 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,886,000 after buying an additional 14,432 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 53.3% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 99,444 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $5,930,000 after acquiring an additional 34,579 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $40.43 on Tuesday. 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 12-month low of $39.10 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $55.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WDC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com cut Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Benchmark cut shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.21.

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.