Allianz Asset Management GmbH Acquires 57,248 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,400,635 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,248 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned approximately 0.41% of Western Digital worth $83,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 53.3% in the 4th 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. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 83.9% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 31,634 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 14,432 shares in the last quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. grew its stake in Western Digital by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2,352.8% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after buying an additional 8,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,580 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $68.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.90 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.54. Western Digital Co. has a 1 year low of $52.77 and a 1 year high of $81.55. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $46,053.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on Western Digital from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.42.

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.