Irving Tan Sells 20,000 Shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.69, for a total transaction of $3,013,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 645,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,265,422.23. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Irving Tan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 19th, Irving Tan sold 8,621 shares of Western Digital stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.90, for a total value of $654,333.90.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $163.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $55.93 billion, a PE ratio of 31.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $116.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.94. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $167.50.

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

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WDC shares. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $92.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on Western Digital from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on Western Digital from $105.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Western Digital from $135.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.47.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth about $791,317,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $220,680,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $195,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,062 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 130.0% during the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,029,359 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $203,337,000 after acquiring an additional 2,842,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Western Digital by 107.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $136,222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742,481 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.