Mackenzie Financial Corp Sells 22,365 Shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Mackenzie Financial Corp lowered its position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 295,011 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 22,365 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned approximately 0.08% of Western Digital worth $17,592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, S.A. Mason LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $50.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.42. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company’s revenue was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 7.58%.

Western Digital announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the data storage provider to reacquire up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. BNP Paribas restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.95.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the business’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 represents a 3.65% 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 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.