Teza Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Teza Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 55.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,604 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,673 shares during the quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,416 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $704,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beta Wealth Group Inc. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,810,575.36. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $548,354.01. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,481 shares in the company, valued at $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,494 shares of company stock valued at $636,747 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 0.7%

NASDAQ WDC traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $50.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,762,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,418,071. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $41.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.02. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Western Digital announced that its board has initiated 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 reacquire up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 7.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WDC. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Benchmark upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $64.95.

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.