ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 65,845 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 43.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,789 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 65,845 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $5,056,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in Western Digital by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 19,954 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,190,000 after purchasing an additional 3,731 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Western Digital by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,388 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 1,077 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Western Digital by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,133 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $187,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in Western Digital by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 238,429 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $14,218,000 after buying an additional 1,757 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Western Digital by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 88,252 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,262,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WDC shares. Wall Street Zen started coverage on Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays set a $50.00 target price on Western Digital and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark raised Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $64.95.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDC traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $50.18. 5,762,727 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,418,071. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Western Digital Co. has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $81.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.51 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $41.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.91.

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

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The business 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 $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 7.58%.

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $548,354.01. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 605,481 shares in the company, valued at $29,178,129.39. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,494 shares of company stock worth $636,747 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Western Digital

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.