Rexford Capital Inc. Makes New $238,000 Investment in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,720 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Western Digital by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 54,161 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,190,000 after purchasing an additional 4,155 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Western Digital by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,933,278 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $118,574,000 after buying an additional 216,387 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 93.3% during the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 219,637 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $8,697,000 after acquiring an additional 106,008 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 0.4% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 107,187 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $4,334,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 91.2% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,279 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Western Digital from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Mizuho increased their target price on Western Digital from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Western Digital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $193.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $105.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.70.

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC stock opened at $176.34 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $147.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.76. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $188.77. The firm has a market cap of $60.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter. Western Digital had a net margin of 21.37% and a return on equity of 30.89%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 2,801 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.57, for a total transaction of $449,756.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 144,596 shares in the company, valued at $23,217,779.72. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 1,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total value of $272,272.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,090. The trade was a 33.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 26,369 shares of company stock worth $4,013,785. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.