Sphera Management Technology Funds Ltd Purchases Shares of 12,000 Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Sphera Management Technology Funds Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 12,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $716,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,131 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,691,000 after buying an additional 11,013 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 841,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $50,191,000 after purchasing an additional 50,188 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 390,826 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $23,305,000 after purchasing an additional 15,189 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 83.9% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 31,634 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,886,000 after buying an additional 14,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Western Digital by 53.3% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 99,444 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $5,930,000 after buying an additional 34,579 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. TD Securities dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.15.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $548,354.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 605,481 shares in the company, valued at $29,178,129.39. The trade was 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 valued at $636,747 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $49.99 on Monday. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55. The firm has a market cap of $17.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 1.42. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $40.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.52. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. The business’s revenue was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 7.58%.

Western Digital announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.