Insider Selling: Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) SVP Sells 245 Shares of Stock

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 245 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.01, for a total value of $14,212.45. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,604 shares in the company, valued at $2,297,428.04. The trade was a 0.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Western Digital Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of WDC traded up $1.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $58.57. 9,615,984 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,491,634. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $81.55. The company has a market cap of $20.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.30. Western Digital had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 20.58%. The firm had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.58%.

Western Digital declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the data storage provider to buy up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Benchmark upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen began coverage on Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 2nd. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $63.79.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in Western Digital during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Western Digital by 34.1% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Elequin Capital LP bought a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

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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