PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)

Key Points

• PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Western Digital Corporation by 34.6%, owning 41,972 shares valued at approximately $1.70 million.
• Western Digital reported a 30% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue, reaching $2.61 billion, and beat earnings per share estimates by $0.18.
• Research firms have assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" to Western Digital, with a price target averaging $78.74, reflecting strong investor sentiment.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 34.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,972 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,786 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,166,000 after buying an additional 9,974 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $5,834,000 after buying an additional 6,947 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $3,608,000 after buying an additional 5,711 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1.6% in the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 242,349 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $9,798,000 after buying an additional 3,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Western Digital by 22.5% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,177,960 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $47,625,000 after purchasing an additional 216,680 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on WDC. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on Western Digital from $78.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BNP Paribas reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wedbush boosted their target price on Western Digital from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $78.74.

Western Digital Trading Down 0.4%

Western Digital stock traded down $0.33 during trading on Monday, hitting $74.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,303,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,489,715. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.58. The stock's fifty day moving average is $65.02 and its 200 day moving average is $54.10. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year 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 earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 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 analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. 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 is currently 7.77%.

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

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the company'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 directly owned 605,481 shares in the company, valued at $29,178,129.39. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total value 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. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,353 shares of company stock valued at $657,454 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Western Digital

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.