Duquesne Family Office LLC Buys 345,755 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Duquesne Family Office LLC grew its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 484.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 417,160 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 345,755 shares during the quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Western Digital worth $24,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,416 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Western Digital by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,415 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beta Wealth Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This trade represents a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on 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 dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Summit Insights upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.15.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $44.10. 4,960,169 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,361,805. Western Digital Co. has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $81.55. The company's 50-day moving average is $40.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $15.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 1.42.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.30. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.58%.

Western Digital 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.