Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Acquired by John G Ullman & Associates Inc.

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 7.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,611 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,136 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $4,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. BNP Paribas lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,415 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,575,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,817 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 19,124 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,140,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $548,354.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 605,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of Western Digital 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Trading Down 0.3%

Western Digital stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $68.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,878,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,696,784. The stock's fifty day moving average is $59.91 and its 200 day moving average is $53.56. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $69.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.56.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. Western Digital had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 20.58%. The company had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Western Digital's payout ratio is 7.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $45.00 to $57.00 in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $85.00 price target (up previously from $78.00) on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday, July 14th. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Summit Insights upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.84.

Western Digital Company 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.