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

Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 158.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WDC. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,131 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 11,013 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 841,700 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $50,191,000 after purchasing an additional 50,188 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Western Digital by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 390,826 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $23,305,000 after purchasing an additional 15,189 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in Western Digital by 83.9% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 31,634 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 14,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Western Digital by 53.3% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 99,444 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $5,930,000 after purchasing an additional 34,579 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Summit Insights raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays set a $50.00 price objective on Western Digital and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $64.95.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,575.36. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 605,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,494 shares of company stock valued at $636,747 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC traded up $0.53 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $52.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,204,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,417,096. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $41.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.76. The firm has a market cap of $18.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 1.42. Western Digital Co. has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $81.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. Western Digital's revenue was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.58%.

Western Digital announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the data storage provider to reacquire up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.