National Bank of Canada FI Has $10.72 Million Holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 58.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 265,243 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 98,352 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.08% of Western Digital worth $10,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,867,877 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $75,518,000 after acquiring an additional 288,459 shares in the last quarter. AI Squared Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,697,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 621,230 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $25,116,000 after acquiring an additional 77,529 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $249,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 107.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $136,222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742,481 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Loop Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Western Digital from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $78.74.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock opened at $75.91 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $65.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.25. The company has a market capitalization of $26.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.58. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $28.83 and a 52-week high of $78.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.08.

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

Western Digital declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the data storage provider to buy 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.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.

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.

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