Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Bought by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 289,693 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,577 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.08% of Western Digital worth $11,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WDC. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 16,344 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $668,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in Western Digital by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 133,966 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,416,000 after buying an additional 25,247 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 617.0% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 125,971 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $5,093,000 after acquiring an additional 108,403 shares during the period. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 182,417 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $7,375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $66.43. 2,266,379 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,525,404. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $23.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58 and a beta of 1.54. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $28.83 and a 52-week high of $80.38.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. The company had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 20.58%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $548,354.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 605,481 shares in the company, valued at $29,178,129.39. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total value of $94,887.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 40,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,200,084.32. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,353 shares of company stock valued at $657,454 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $76.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $57.00 in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America upped their price target on Western Digital from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Barclays set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.79.

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.