Vise Technologies Inc. Takes Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,811 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $308,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its stake in Western Digital by 130.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 107.1% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $136,222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,481 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter worth approximately $50,897,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth $35,406,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at $22,849,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total transaction of $1,051,930.26. Following the sale, the insider owned 135,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,121,547.78. The trade was a 9.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 645,467 shares in the company, valued at $97,265,422.23. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 60,186 shares of company stock worth $6,213,015 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $156.01 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.79. 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 fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $178.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.81.

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

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 7.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho increased their price target on Western Digital from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $105.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report 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 issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.74.

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.