Sather Financial Group Inc Acquires New Shares in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Sather Financial Group Inc bought a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 3,500 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted 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 purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter worth about $40,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in Western Digital by 242.2% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in Western Digital by 91.2% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,279 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of WDC opened at $115.42 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $94.78 and its 200 day moving average is $67.08. The company has a market capitalization of $39.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.77. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $137.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%. Research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total value of $28,557.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 27,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,218,682.50. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total value of $1,024,159.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 151,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,687,602.84. The trade was a 6.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,730 shares of company stock worth $3,921,594. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Zacks Research cut Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Western Digital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.63.

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.