B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Acquires 9,460 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 64.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,130 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,460 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 73,048 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $4,356,000 after buying an additional 6,470 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 24,691 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 515,793 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $30,757,000 after purchasing an additional 87,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $611,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of Western Digital 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 owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This trade represents a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $41.78 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $54.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.94. The firm has a market cap of $14.53 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95 and a beta of 1.42. 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 Co. has a one year low of $39.10 and a one year high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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, research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho lowered their price target on Western Digital from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.21.

About Western Digital

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.