Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Buys Shares of 5,690 Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,690 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $389,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $437,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter worth $36,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its position in Western Digital by 8.6% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 822,281 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $56,112,000 after buying an additional 64,980 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 14.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,688 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter worth about $236,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at $63,051,021.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $5,274,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,051,021.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 12,154 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.09, for a total value of $693,871.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 128,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,331,098.17. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 92,955 shares of company stock worth $6,327,560 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Western Digital stock traded down $0.83 on Monday, hitting $68.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,545,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,157,216. Western Digital Co. has a one year low of $38.43 and a one year high of $81.55. The firm has a market cap of $23.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.85 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $65.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.67.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.97) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WDC shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.09.

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.