Two Sigma Advisers LP Trims Stock Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Two Sigma Advisers LP cut its stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 46.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,419,200 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 1,219,600 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $84,627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. S.A. Mason LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 605,481 shares in the company, valued at $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,494 shares of company stock worth $636,747 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $49.99 on Monday. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $81.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $17.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 1.42.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) 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. The company had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the data storage provider to buy up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on WDC. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.15.

About Western Digital

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.