Banco Santander S.A. Invests $218,000 in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. acquired 5,386 shares of Western Digital Corporation, valued at approximately $218,000, during the first quarter.
• Insider trading activity included CEO Irving Tan selling 11,379 shares for over $548,000, marking a 1.84% decrease in ownership.
• Western Digital's stock received mixed analyst ratings, with price targets varying from $53.00 to $95.00, while still maintaining a "Moderate Buy" average rating.

Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,386 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Western Digital by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Elequin Capital LP acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in Western Digital by 242.2% during the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 91.6% during 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Trading Up 0.7%

WDC traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $74.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,983,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,507,482. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $78.80. The stock has a market cap of $26.16 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.58. The business's 50-day moving average is $64.57 and its 200-day moving average is $54.15. 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 released 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is 7.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $548,354.01. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 605,481 shares in the company, valued at $29,178,129.39. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at $2,200,084.32. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WDC. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Western Digital in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Summit Insights upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $58.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note 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, Western Digital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $78.74.

Western Digital Company 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.