Quantinno Capital Management LP Acquires 34,510 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 167.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,080 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 34,510 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP's holdings in Western Digital were worth $3,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $304,000. Man Group plc increased its position in Western Digital by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 360,274 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $21,483,000 after purchasing an additional 86,580 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV increased its position in Western Digital by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 42,530 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,582,000 after purchasing an additional 2,595 shares during the period. NWI Management LP acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $21,467,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 13,604 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $811,000 after acquiring an additional 2,309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,494 shares of company stock worth $636,747. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $76.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given 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 $64.15.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ WDC opened at $50.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 1.42. Western Digital Co. has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The business's fifty day moving average is $40.97 and its 200-day moving average is $55.42.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the data storage provider to purchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.58%.

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.

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