Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Acquired by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 3,470.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 253,294 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 246,199 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Western Digital worth $10,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Western Digital by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,131 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 11,013 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Western Digital by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 841,700 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $50,191,000 after acquiring an additional 50,188 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Western Digital by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 390,826 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $23,305,000 after acquiring an additional 15,189 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 83.9% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 31,634 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,886,000 after acquiring an additional 14,432 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Western Digital by 53.3% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 99,444 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $5,930,000 after acquiring an additional 34,579 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Stock Down 0.5%

WDC traded down $0.28 on Wednesday, reaching $55.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,390,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,455,251. The stock has a market cap of $19.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 1.49. Western Digital Co. has a 1 year low of $28.83 and a 1 year high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The business's 50 day moving average is $44.75 and its 200 day moving average is $54.03.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.30. Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. Western Digital's revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 7.58%.

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group upped their target price on Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $70.00 target price (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Benchmark raised Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a research report 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 MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $63.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 605,481 shares in the company, valued at $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by 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.