Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Acquires New Shares in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise has acquired 19,485 shares of Western Digital Corporation, valued at approximately $788,000, during the first quarter of the year.
• Western Digital has experienced a strong quarterly performance, reporting earnings of $1.66 EPS and exceeding revenue expectations with $2.61 billion for the quarter, which shows a 30% year-over-year increase.
• The company's Board of Directors approved a $2.00 billion share buyback program aimed at repurchasing up to 11.7% of its shares, signaling confidence in the stock's value.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 19,485 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $788,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 19,124 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,140,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Western Digital by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 515,793 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $30,757,000 after purchasing an additional 87,281 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 19.8% in the 4th 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 period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 3.8% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its stake in Western Digital by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 24,130 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,439,000 after purchasing an additional 9,460 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Trading Down 2.1%

WDC stock traded down $1.63 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $75.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,231,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,036,750. The company has a market cap of $26.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.58. The business's 50 day moving average price is $62.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $78.80.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.18. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the data storage provider to repurchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total transaction of $94,887.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 40,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,200,084.32. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $548,354.01. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 605,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on WDC shares. Loop Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Summit Insights upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Mizuho upped their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on Western Digital from $58.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.74.

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.