Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 52,401 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Baird Financial Group Inc. cut its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 88.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,123 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 52,401 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,131 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,691,000 after purchasing an additional 11,013 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 841,700 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $50,191,000 after purchasing an additional 50,188 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 390,826 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $23,305,000 after purchasing an additional 15,189 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 83.9% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 31,634 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,886,000 after buying an additional 14,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 53.3% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 99,444 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $5,930,000 after acquiring an additional 34,579 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $548,354.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 605,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,178,129.39. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,494 shares of company stock valued at $636,747 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $50.72. 5,282,112 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,384,984. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.52. Western Digital Co. has a 52-week low of $28.83 and a 52-week high of $81.55.

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

Western Digital declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the data storage provider to repurchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WDC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $64.15.

Western Digital 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.