SouthState Corp Raises Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

SouthState Corp lifted its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 422.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 617 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $39,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 116,812 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $4,723,000 after buying an additional 7,740 shares in the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its holdings in Western Digital by 3.2% during the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 16,114 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Western Digital by 34.1% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 2.2% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 97,167 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,928,000 after acquiring an additional 2,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 0.5% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 105,157 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $4,251,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total transaction of $28,557.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 27,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,682.50. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.69, for a total value of $3,013,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 645,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,265,422.23. This trade represents a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 69,730 shares of company stock valued at $6,935,394 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock opened at $162.96 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $118.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.13. The firm has a market cap of $55.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.64, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.08. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.83 and a 1 year high of $167.50.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 7.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Western Digital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Western Digital from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.47.

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.