GTS Securities LLC Has $379,000 Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

GTS Securities LLC reduced its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 94.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,359 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 102,069 shares during the period. GTS Securities LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 32.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Western Digital by 6.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 50,188 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Western Digital by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 390,826 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $23,305,000 after purchasing an additional 15,189 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 83.9% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 31,634 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 14,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 53.3% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 99,444 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,930,000 after purchasing an additional 34,579 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 605,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,575.36. The trade was 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 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $51.74. 7,402,048 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,413,519. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $42.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.50.

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

Western Digital announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 7.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WDC. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $64.95.

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.