Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Sold by Point72 Asset Management L.P.

Point72 Asset Management L.P. lowered its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 50.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 20,000 shares during the quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. S.A. Mason LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 605,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,178,129.39. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,494 shares of company stock valued at $636,747. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WDC shares. TD Securities lowered their target price 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. UBS Group increased their price target on Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.15.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $49.49 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $17.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.42. Western Digital Co. has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $81.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for 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 company posted $0.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital announced that its board has approved 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 buy up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 7.58%.

Western Digital Company 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.