Janus Henderson Group PLC decreased its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 94.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,574 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 1,163,758 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $4,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WDC. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,416 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.4% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. BNP Paribas raised its position 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 worth $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beta Wealth Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.
Western Digital Stock Performance
Shares of WDC stock traded up $0.34 on Friday, reaching $50.18. The stock had a trading volume of 5,762,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,418,071. The stock has a market cap of $17.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.42. Western Digital Co. has a 1 year low of $28.83 and a 1 year high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.02.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. The firm 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 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.
Western Digital Cuts Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.58%.
Western Digital announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the data storage provider to purchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WDC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Summit Insights raised Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on Western Digital from $76.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Western Digital from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.95.
Check Out Our Latest Report on WDC
Insider Transactions at Western Digital
In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. The trade was 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 accessible through the SEC website. 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 value of $548,354.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,494 shares of company stock worth $636,747 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.
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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