Arkadios Wealth Advisors Purchases 6,105 Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)

Key Points

• Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 30.6%, owning 26,059 shares valued at approximately $1,054,000 as of the latest SEC filing.
• Western Digital's CEO, Irving Tan, sold 11,379 shares at an average price of $48.19, decreasing his ownership by 1.84%, while insiders have sold a total of 13,353 shares worth $657,454 over the last ninety days.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Western Digital, with price targets ranging from $53.00 to $90.00, indicating potential for recovery in its stock price.

Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 30.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,059 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,105 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors' holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other 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 value of $94,887.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $548,354.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 605,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WDC. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $53.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen upped their target price on Western Digital from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.74.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $74.35. The company had a trading volume of 4,161,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,019,063. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.13. The company has a market capitalization of $25.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.58. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.83 and a 1 year high of $78.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

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

Western Digital declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 buy up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.

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.