Machina Capital S.A.S. Purchases Shares of 22,211 Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)

Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 22,211 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $898,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Western Digital by 52.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,838 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,166,000 after buying an additional 9,974 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in Western Digital by 5.1% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 144,307 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,834,000 after buying an additional 6,947 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in Western Digital by 6.8% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 89,244 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $3,608,000 after buying an additional 5,711 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 156,247 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $9,317,000 after purchasing an additional 27,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth $5,711,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 16th. TD Securities decreased their price target on Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays set a $50.00 price target on Western Digital and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.84.

Western Digital Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $68.82. The company had a trading volume of 7,878,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,696,784. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $69.72. The firm has a market cap 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. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.56.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. Western Digital had a return on equity of 20.58% and a net margin of 13.33%. 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 company posted $0.63 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is 7.58%.

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the data storage provider to reacquire up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total transaction of $94,887.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at $2,200,084.32. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $548,354.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 605,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,353 shares of company stock valued at $657,454. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.