Rhumbline Advisers Increases Stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 7.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 674,874 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 46,202 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.19% of Western Digital worth $27,285,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings 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 last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Western Digital by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,415 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,600 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $548,354.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 605,481 shares in the company, valued at $29,178,129.39. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,089 shares in the company, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,564 shares of company stock valued at $663,018. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.37.

Western Digital Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of WDC traded up $1.57 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $57.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,534,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,448,218. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Western Digital Co. has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The stock has a market cap of $19.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 1.49. The company's 50 day moving average is $43.51 and its 200 day moving average is $54.08.

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

Western Digital announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the data storage provider to purchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.58%.

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.