Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires New Position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 50,541 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,043,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 6.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 5,711 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 20.3% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 14,198 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 2,394 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1.7% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 66,950 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 3.4% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 289,693 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $11,712,000 after buying an additional 9,577 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of WDC stock opened at $65.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.54. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.83 and a 1 year high of $80.20. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $55.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 20.58% and a net margin of 13.33%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

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

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 7.58%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 605,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the business's 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at $2,200,084.32. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WDC shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Barclays set a $50.00 price target on Western Digital and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Western Digital in a report on Thursday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $63.26.

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.

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