Rafferty Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 121,610 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,131 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $7,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,416 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $704,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. BNP Paribas lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,415 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,575,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Beta Wealth Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.63. 4,930,229 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,382,297. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $17.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.05 and a beta of 1.42. The firm's fifty day moving average is $41.14 and its 200-day moving average is $55.38. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.30. Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Western Digital's quarterly revenue was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the data storage provider to repurchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the business'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 now owns 605,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,494 shares of company stock valued at $636,747 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WDC. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Western Digital from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Summit Insights raised Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $64.15.

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.