Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Lowers Position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank has reduced its holdings in Western Digital Corporation by 5.5%, selling 5,648 shares and now owning a total of 97,930 shares valued at approximately $3,959,000.
• Western Digital recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.66, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a 30% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company has authorized a stock repurchase plan to buy back up to $2.00 billion of its shares, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank decreased its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 97,930 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 5,648 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Western Digital were worth $3,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WDC. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 11,167 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 0.9% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 154,233 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $6,236,000 after buying an additional 1,347 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 12.8% in the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,336 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 948 shares in the last quarter. Burren Capital Advisors Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at about $1,227,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.2% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 71,621 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,896,000 after acquiring an additional 853 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on WDC. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Western Digital in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush upped their price objective on Western Digital from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Western Digital from $78.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Western Digital from $50.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.74.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ WDC traded down $1.92 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $75.38. The stock had a trading volume of 3,988,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,036,004. The firm's 50 day moving average is $62.76 and its 200 day moving average is $53.84. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $78.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.58.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.18. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Western Digital declared that its board has authorized a share 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 purchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $548,354.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 605,481 shares in the company, valued at $29,178,129.39. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the company'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 approximately $2,200,084.32. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,353 shares of company stock valued at $657,454. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.