Woodline Partners LP Purchases 61,702 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Woodline Partners LP raised its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 158.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 100,610 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 61,702 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP's holdings in Western Digital were worth $5,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. S.A. Mason LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 91.6% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $52.28. The stock had a trading volume of 1,153,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,405,268. 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 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $81.55. The firm has a market cap of $18.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $41.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.74.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Western Digital's payout ratio is 7.58%.

Western Digital declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on WDC shares. TD Securities cut their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark raised Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup cut their price objective on Western Digital from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen started coverage on Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $64.95.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,494 shares of company stock worth $636,747. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.