Western Digital Corporation $WDC Stock Position Reduced by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund cut its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 18.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,966 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 8,500 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 52.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,838 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,166,000 after acquiring an additional 9,974 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter worth approximately $35,406,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Western Digital by 5.1% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 144,307 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $5,834,000 after acquiring an additional 6,947 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Western Digital by 6.8% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 89,244 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,608,000 after acquiring an additional 5,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in Western Digital by 1.6% in the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 242,349 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $9,798,000 after acquiring an additional 3,920 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of WDC stock opened at $75.06 on Monday. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $28.83 and a 52-week high of $78.80. The stock has a market cap of $26.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $66.71 and a 200-day moving average of $54.43.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.18. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the data storage provider to buy up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 5,597 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.26, for a total value of $426,827.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 154,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,795,820.54. This represents a 3.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total transaction of $94,887.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 40,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,518 shares of company stock valued at $831,479. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on WDC. BNP Paribas reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Western Digital from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.39.

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.