Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by Allianz Asset Management GmbH

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management GmbH reduced its stake in Western Digital Corporation by 44.4%, owning approximately 0.22% of the company after selling 609,400 shares in the second quarter.
• Several hedge funds have increased their holdings in Western Digital, with noteworthy increases of 52.9% and 34.6% by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC and Exchange Traded Concepts LLC, respectively.
• Western Digital reported a quarterly EPS of $1.78 and announced a $0.10 dividend, yielding 0.3%, with a low of $28.83 and a high of $137.40 for the year.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH lowered its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 44.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 763,568 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 609,400 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned about 0.22% of Western Digital worth $48,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WDC. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 18.4% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,918 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 52.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,838 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,166,000 after acquiring an additional 9,974 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 34.6% during the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,564 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4.6% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 35,648 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 3.3% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 40,752 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,647,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Trading Up 0.2%

Western Digital stock opened at $126.20 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $137.40. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $99.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.66. The firm has a market cap of $43.26 billion, a PE ratio of 24.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.77.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%.The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush upped their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Western Digital from $78.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Benchmark upped their target price on Western Digital from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Western Digital from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Western Digital from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $105.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total transaction of $28,557.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 27,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,218,682.50. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total value of $1,024,159.47. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 151,596 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,687,602.84. The trade was a 6.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,730 shares of company stock worth $3,921,594. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Western Digital 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WDC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.