Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Purchased by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,696 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,077 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Western Digital were worth $2,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $352,572,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,531,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,149 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,950,000. Atalan Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,612,000. Finally, Sachem Head Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP now owns 2,967,900 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $176,976,000 after purchasing an additional 937,900 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on WDC. Barclays set a $50.00 price target on shares of Western Digital and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen began coverage on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 2nd. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $63.79.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total transaction of $94,887.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 40,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,200,084.32. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $548,354.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 605,481 shares in the company, valued at $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock traded down $1.19 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $64.02. The company had a trading volume of 8,355,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,151,970. The stock has a market cap of $22.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.93. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $66.83.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Western Digital had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 20.58%. The firm had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. Western Digital's revenue was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.58%.

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors 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 reacquire up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.