Allianz Asset Management GmbH Has $55.51 Million Position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)

Allianz Asset Management GmbH lessened its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,372,968 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 27,667 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned 0.39% of Western Digital worth $55,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,531,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,149 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $520,450,000 after purchasing an additional 823,656 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth about $352,572,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,592,516 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $273,852,000 after purchasing an additional 881,088 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,397,671 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $202,603,000 after purchasing an additional 478,269 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 605,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 40,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,200,084.32. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Western Digital stock traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $68.82. 7,878,242 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,696,784. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.48. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $69.72. The stock has a market cap of $24.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 1.54.

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

Western Digital declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 repurchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WDC. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $62.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $76.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $85.00 target price (up previously from $78.00) on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Four 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.84.

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.