Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,104 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $304,000.
Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 195,435 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $11,654,000 after purchasing an additional 3,325 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth $1,570,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in Western Digital by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 19,954 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,190,000 after buying an additional 3,731 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,388 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,077 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,133 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity 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 transaction of $548,354.01. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 605,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,494 shares of company stock valued at $636,747 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Western Digital Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ WDC traded up $1.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $50.52. The stock had a trading volume of 2,678,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,378,121. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $17.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04 and a beta of 1.42. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The business's fifty day moving average is $41.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.34.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. The company had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. Western Digital's quarterly revenue was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.
Western Digital declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Western Digital Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.58%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays set a $50.00 target price on Western Digital and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.15.
Get Our Latest Analysis on WDC
Western Digital Profile
(
Free Report)
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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