Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 131,691 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 11,052 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in Western Digital were worth $7,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Western Digital by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,131 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,691,000 after buying an additional 11,013 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 841,700 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $50,191,000 after acquiring an additional 50,188 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 390,826 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $23,305,000 after acquiring an additional 15,189 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 83.9% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 31,634 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,886,000 after acquiring an additional 14,432 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 53.3% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 99,444 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $5,930,000 after acquiring an additional 34,579 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital
In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 now directly owns 605,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,494 shares of company stock worth $636,747. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Western Digital Trading Up 0.7%
Shares of WDC traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $50.18. 5,762,727 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,418,071. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week 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 has a 50-day moving average of $41.46 and a 200-day moving average of $55.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.51 billion, a P/E 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.
Western Digital declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the data storage provider to reacquire up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are 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 given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.58%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WDC shares. Barclays set a $50.00 price target on shares of Western Digital and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 2nd. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Susquehanna decreased their price target 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. TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.95.
View Our Latest Analysis on WDC
About Western Digital
(
Free Report)
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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