USS Investment Management Ltd Cuts Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

USS Investment Management Ltd lessened its holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 59,641 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 12,741 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $3,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WDC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth about $352,572,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth about $94,181,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,531,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,149 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth about $68,950,000. Finally, Atalan Capital Partners LP purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth about $62,612,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays set a $50.00 price target on shares of Western Digital and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $45.00 to $57.00 in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.95.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $548,354.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,481 shares in the company, valued at $29,178,129.39. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,494 shares of company stock worth $636,747 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Western Digital Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $50.18 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.51 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.42. Western Digital Co. has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

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

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.58%.

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the data storage provider to repurchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.