Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Sold by Beaconlight Capital LLC

Beaconlight Capital LLC decreased its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 65.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 21,971 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 42,307 shares during the period. Western Digital comprises approximately 0.5% of Beaconlight Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Beaconlight Capital LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,531,876,000 after buying an additional 1,439,149 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $520,450,000 after acquiring an additional 823,656 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth about $352,572,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Western Digital by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,397,671 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $202,603,000 after purchasing an additional 478,269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,980,047 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $177,700,000 after purchasing an additional 586,924 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $44.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 1.39. Western Digital Co. has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $81.55. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.05. 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 (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 net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,575.36. This trade represents a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WDC. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Securities dropped their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on Western Digital from $76.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.65.

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.