MetLife Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,495 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,598 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $5,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $352,572,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,181,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 1,439,149 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $520,450,000 after buying an additional 823,656 shares during the period. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,980,047 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $177,700,000 after acquiring an additional 586,924 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WDC. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Western Digital in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.68.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $37.73 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.26. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $81.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.98 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.