Insider Selling: Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) Insider Sells 5,597 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Insider Transaction: Western Digital Corporation insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 5,597 shares at an average price of $76.26, totaling approximately $426,827, reducing their ownership by 3.49% to 154,679 shares.
• Positive Earnings Report: In its latest quarter, Western Digital reported $1.66 earnings per share, surpassing estimates by $0.18, with revenues of $2.61 billion, a 30% increase year-over-year.
• Stock Buyback Program: The company's board approved a buyback plan for up to $2 billion, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 5,597 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.26, for a total transaction of $426,827.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 154,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,795,820.54. The trade was a 3.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Western Digital Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ WDC traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $76.07. 5,298,604 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,667,890. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $65.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $78.80. The stock has a market cap of $26.54 billion, a PE ratio of 14.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.58.

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

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the data storage provider to buy up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 102.5% during the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 399 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 86.9% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 441 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. CNB Bank acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 47.2% in the 2nd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 577 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Securities lowered their target price 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 lifted their target price on Western Digital from $58.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Western Digital from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $78.74.

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.

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