Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Purchases New Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC has acquired a new stake in Western Digital Corporation (WDC), purchasing 5,441 shares valued at approximately $377,000.
• Insider activity saw significant share sales, including 3,160 shares sold by SVP Gene M. Zamiska and 11,343 shares sold by insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi, indicating a decrease in their positions.
• Western Digital recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, reflecting a 0.3% yield, with an annualized payout ratio of 7.77%.

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,441 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $377,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,938,495 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,736,003,000 after acquiring an additional 478,728 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake in Western Digital by 130.0% during the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,029,359 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $203,337,000 after acquiring an additional 2,842,822 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 1.5% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $139,476,000 after purchasing an additional 52,140 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 107.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $136,222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 8.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,933,278 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $118,574,000 after purchasing an additional 216,387 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 3,160 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $239,148.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 31,560 shares in the company, valued at $2,388,460.80. The trade was a 9.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total transaction of $1,024,159.47. Following the sale, the insider owned 151,596 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,687,602.84. The trade was a 6.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,730 shares of company stock worth $3,921,594. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 4.4%

Shares of WDC opened at $125.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $103.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.08. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $137.40. The company has a market capitalization of $43.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.77.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital's payout ratio is 7.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on WDC. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $92.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Western Digital to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.84.

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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