LSV Asset Management Increases Stock Position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)

Key Points

• LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Western Digital Corporation by 22.5% during the first quarter, owning about 1,177,960 shares, valued at $47,625,000.
• Analysts have upgraded Western Digital's stock ratings, with a consensus price target of $78.74 and a majority recommending a buy.
• Western Digital announced a $0.10 quarterly dividend and initiated a $2.00 billion stock buyback program, indicating management's belief in the stock's undervaluation.

LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 22.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,177,960 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 216,680 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management owned approximately 0.34% of Western Digital worth $47,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 30.6% during the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 26,059 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 6,105 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth about $788,000. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth about $62,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 54.5% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 455,698 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $18,424,000 after purchasing an additional 160,687 shares during the period. Finally, Alteri Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 18.5% during the first quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC now owns 7,466 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,168 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WDC shares. Loop Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $78.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research 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 stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $78.74.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction 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 owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at $2,200,084.32. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 605,481 shares in the company, valued at $29,178,129.39. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC stock traded up $0.38 on Friday, hitting $74.82. The company had a trading volume of 3,089,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,005,270. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $78.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $64.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.20. The stock has a market cap of $26.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.58.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.18. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.

Western Digital declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the data storage provider to reacquire up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.