Advisors Preferred LLC Buys Shares of 63,820 Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)

Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 63,820 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,610,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 34.1% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in Western Digital by 242.2% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the period. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $69.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,053,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,944,481. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $69.62. The stock has a market cap of $24.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.30. Western Digital had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 20.58%. The firm had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 7.58%.

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program 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 reacquire up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WDC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $85.00 price target (up previously from $78.00) on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday, July 14th. BNP Paribas reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 605,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,178,129.39. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total transaction of $94,887.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at $2,200,084.32. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.