Artemis Investment Management LLP Cuts Holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)

Artemis Investment Management LLP trimmed its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 42.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 835,313 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 606,584 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP owned about 0.24% of Western Digital worth $33,772,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WDC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,531,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,149 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $520,450,000 after acquiring an additional 823,656 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at about $352,572,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,592,516 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $273,852,000 after acquiring an additional 881,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,397,671 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $202,603,000 after purchasing an additional 478,269 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $63.51 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $50.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.10. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $80.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. Western Digital had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 20.58%. The company had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. Western Digital's quarterly revenue was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Western Digital's payout ratio is 7.58%.

Western Digital declared that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 purchase 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 stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on WDC. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on Western Digital from $76.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $63.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the business's 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 now owns 40,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 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 currently owned by 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.

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