MIG Capital LLC Takes $336,000 Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

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MIG Capital LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 8,321 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WDC. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 52.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 9,974 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the first quarter worth about $35,406,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Western Digital by 5.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 6,947 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Western Digital by 6.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 5,711 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital by 1.6% during the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 242,349 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $9,798,000 after acquiring an additional 3,920 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.6%

Western Digital stock opened at $76.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.62 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.58. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $78.80.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.45 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.77%.

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the data storage provider to reacquire up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $50.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. BNP Paribas reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $78.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 5,597 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.26, for a total transaction of $426,827.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 154,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,795,820.54. This trade represents a 3.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,518 shares of company stock valued at $831,479 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

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