OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Increases Stock Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,604 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,309 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $811,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,531,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,149 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $520,450,000 after acquiring an additional 823,656 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $352,572,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,397,671 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $202,603,000 after acquiring an additional 478,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,980,047 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $177,700,000 after acquiring an additional 586,924 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $49.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.59. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.58%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WDC. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $76.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Benchmark raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 605,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,494 shares of company stock valued at $636,747. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.