Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital Corporation by 1.1%, owning 12.34% of the company with a total value of approximately $1.74 billion as of the most recent quarter.
• Western Digital's stock has seen multiple analysts raise their price targets, with an average target of $78.74 and 18 analysts rating it as a "buy."
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, with plans for a $2.00 billion share repurchase program, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 42,938,495 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 478,728 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.34% of Western Digital worth $1,736,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas raised its stake in Western Digital by 0.6% in the fourth 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. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,817 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Western Digital by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Western Digital by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,395 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,835,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 14,330 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $854,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 40,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,200,084.32. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on WDC shares. Wedbush lifted their price target on Western Digital from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Western Digital from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Summit Insights raised Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Four 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.74.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock traded up $1.27 on Tuesday, reaching $75.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,694,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,012,381. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $26.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $65.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.10. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $28.83 and a 52-week high of $78.80.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.45 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the data storage provider to buy up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

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.