Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Raises Stock Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 19.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,186,537 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 362,635 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned 0.63% of Western Digital worth $130,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,131 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,691,000 after buying an additional 11,013 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 841,700 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $50,191,000 after acquiring an additional 50,188 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 390,826 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $23,305,000 after acquiring an additional 15,189 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 83.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 53.3% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 99,444 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,930,000 after purchasing an additional 34,579 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Down 1.6 %

WDC traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $44.29. The company had a trading volume of 4,952,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,330,705. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $40.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.74. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $81.55. The company has a market capitalization of $15.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 7.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $1,810,575.36. This trade represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays set a $50.00 price objective on Western Digital and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $64.15.

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.