The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $50.87 Million Stock Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 10.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 744,938 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 69,063 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.22% of Western Digital worth $50,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WDC. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 28,925.8% in the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 2,202,190 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $166,860,000 after buying an additional 2,194,603 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Western Digital by 247.0% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,446,509 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $109,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,658 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Western Digital by 39.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,861,229 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $216,795,000 after acquiring an additional 810,977 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Western Digital by 304.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 709,386 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $53,750,000 after acquiring an additional 534,168 shares during the period. Finally, Discovery Capital Management LLC CT increased its position in Western Digital by 137.3% during the second quarter. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT now owns 617,800 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $46,811,000 after acquiring an additional 357,500 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $71.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.09. The company has a market cap of $24.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.06 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Western Digital Co. has a 12-month low of $46.42 and a 12-month high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued 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 business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.97) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 2,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $134,391.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,019,957.96. This represents a 6.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 185,963 shares of company stock worth $13,154,039 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.