Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Purchased by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 121,610 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,131 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $7,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,416 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in Western Digital by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $704,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. BNP Paribas boosted its position in Western Digital by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,415 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Beta Wealth Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,575.36. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $548,354.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 605,481 shares in the company, valued at $29,178,129.39. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,494 shares of company stock worth $636,747 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho decreased their target price on Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.15.

Western Digital Stock Up 0.5%

WDC opened at $49.99 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99. Western Digital Co. has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $81.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 1.42.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the data storage provider to reacquire up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.58%.

Western Digital Profile

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.