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

MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,897 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 2,190 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $5,798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aigen Investment Management LP increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 124.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 11,860 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Western Digital by 11.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $18,917,000 after purchasing an additional 27,849 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its position in Western Digital by 19.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 291,777 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $19,925,000 after buying an additional 47,965 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 137.9% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,575 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,976,000 after buying an additional 25,262 shares during the period. Finally, Ghisallo Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $13,260,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $72.99 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.12. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $46.47 and a 52 week high of $81.55. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $25.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.94 and a beta of 1.40.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.97) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total value of $2,092,463.67. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,208,417.98. This represents a 18.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 185,963 shares of company stock worth $13,154,039. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WDC shares. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. BNP Paribas dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Western Digital from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.71.

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.