California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 10,047 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

California State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 492,846 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 10,047 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.14% of Western Digital worth $29,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Elequin Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, S.A. Mason LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC traded down $0.81 on Friday, reaching $51.74. 7,402,048 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,418,666. The firm has a market cap of $18.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $81.55. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $42.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. Western Digital's quarterly revenue was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is 7.58%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WDC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Western Digital from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $70.00 price target (up from $54.00) on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.95.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 605,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,494 shares of company stock valued at $636,747 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.