Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Sold by Janus Henderson Group PLC

Janus Henderson Group PLC lowered its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 94.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,574 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 1,163,758 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $4,269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. grew 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 worth $144,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,415 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beta Wealth Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC opened at $49.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Western Digital Co. has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $81.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.44 billion, a PE ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 1.42.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. The business's revenue was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders 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 7.58%.

Western Digital declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the data storage provider to repurchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho decreased their target price on Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $64.15.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 605,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,494 shares of company stock valued at $636,747 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.

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